Pumpkin Festivus

It's official- Fall is now here! It's getting cold in Rexburg- and most places up north. But, it feels most like Fall because we carved pumpkins! My Mom named whatever day we carve pumpkins "pumpkin festivus," so it was deemed that. We were given homegrown pumpkins from the Peterson family (our Firth family) and then carved them at our friends Nate and Bethany's apartment. It was Tom's first time and he loved it, even though he got sick of the tediousness of carving, so I finished the rest. These are the homegrown pumpkins:

Carving out the top:

Nate carving the top:

Like I mentioned, it was Tom's first time EVER carving a pumpkin! Excited is an understatement.

Bethany working on her creation:

Bethany with her scary spider:

Me with the goofy face- on the pumpkin, not my actual face:

The finished projects all lit up (side 1: faces)

Side 2: Spooky Sensations

Thanks Nate, Bethany and the Peterson and Smith families for providing us with some holiday spirit! Now, I've just got to figure out what to be for Halloween...

Happy 10.10.10

I guess it's time I post these pictures from our Conference Trip.

First off, let me just say how much fun I had in Utah!

My parents came up to Utah for General Conference and my

Dad's mission reunion, and to see us, of course!

We stayed with them and enjoyed watching General Conference- twice!

We were so lucky to get tickets the second time- an usher gave us tickets with great seats!

Also, my Dad was so kind and paid for us to stay with them and for our meals.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad! Here they are; outside the Conference Center:

Look at how many people were inside this beautiful building! Still filling up!

Here's Tom with this sweet man we talked to right after conference.

He has built tons of different things inside SO many Temples and other church buildings!

He didn't want his picture taken, but he still let me. Thanks sweet man!

My parents again:

Here's a few more conference pictures.

And, we saw the Capital building as we looked for "Gravity Hill."

My parents swear that it exists, but we're not convinced.

The street has been turned into a one-way,

so as to keep people from going down it and experiencing the 'gravity.'

Bummer... And, after conference we went to The Pie!

It's a delicious pizza joint in Salt Lake, right by the U of U's campus.

My Mom was a little disgusted because it wasn't 'clean' enough for her, but we loved it anyway.

At The Pie!

It was our one-year engagement anniversary!

So, we took a picture by the Temple,

near where we got engaged one year ago.

I'm so glad he asked me...it has been wonderful.

A Great Day at BYU-Idaho

I've had some great experiences here at BYU-Idaho. Last week, Tom and I had another great experience. We were able to have lunch with none other than President and Sister Clark! President Clark is the president at BYU-Idaho, for those who don't know. And, it wasn't just with them, it was also with Bro. Merrill, who was the Sunday School President for the Church until last year. It was a wonderful experience, and I am so grateful we got to do that.

First, we got to the room where we were supposed to meet and waited with other students until President and Sister Clark, Bro. Merrill and other school officials showed up. Then we went next door and there was a big table with salads all laid out and name cards and everything to make us feel real special. We ate and we each took turns introducing ourselves.

After we finished our salads, a delicious main course of fish, brown rice and green beans. During the main course, each of us students were able to ask the Clark's and Bro. Merrill questions. We had a wonderful discussion about Church topics, including marriage and fidelity and the Atonement. It was so good. President and Sister Clark and Bro. Merrill were so cool! I really had no idea. They really made me want to make sure I'm always serving the Lord and building up His kingdom, just like they do.

After the meal, we were served peaches and cream. Yum! After we finished that, we walked to devotional and got to sit on the stage!

We had so much fun at our special devotional event. The best thing was that we usually wouldn't have been able to go because we have a class, but that day our class was cancelled. It was meant to be. A special thanks to our friend Mark Beck who was the organizer of the event and invited us to go. It was definitely a great day at BYU-Idaho.

The Beach: the Pacific and Atlantic

Thomas and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend one week in SoCal with my family and a whole month with his family in Miami. Needless to say, we spent many hours at both the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean's coasts. Both were beautiful! The water in California was chilly, dark and filled with my favorite- WAVES! And the Miami water was warm, clear, still and full of fishies! We had a blast boogie boarding and kayaking in San Diego and had fun swimming and chasing fish in Miami. Here are some pictures from both.

I'll start with San Diego, because that's where we went first. Here we are kayaking!

Me and my sweet sissy:

My great Dad, who took us on the trip: Thanks Dad!

Look at the sea lions behind us. There were sea lions, on the rocks and caves behind us. And, we kayaked to where sharks swam underneath us constantly. Then, we spotted some dolphins, so we paddled after them. But, the only animals I was able to capture on camera were the sea lions.

Then, we went to old town San Diego.

Here is my adorable nephew Krew on an old cannon:

He's so cute, I couldn't help but take tons of pictures of him.

Then, we went to Miami, where we stayed a whole month!

Here we are at the beach: It was right at sunrise and was so beautiful. It was my first sunrise at the beach, because I've only ever seen the sunset.

Here's Tom's cute parents, Juanita and Tom, Sr. stealing a kiss:

Here's my stylish Mom-in-Law, Juanita. She's a Latina babe, with a passion for fashion (literally, we shop together; it's great).

Thomas floating in the crystal clear green water:

We also went to the University of Miami game- it was great. It was my very first college football game and we did it right; we had a tailgate dinner and everything.

Here's the group we went with: Kathleen, Macarena, Jessica and Seth:

Here we are:

The U game was a blast, but it was really hot.

And, we went to Orlando! We spent most the day at the temple, but walked around outside Universal.

After a month in Miami, we flew back to Arizona, and then drove back up to Rexburg, where we started school. We've tackled two whole days of school so far and have a whole semester ahead of us. Fortunately, Tom and I are taking three classes together; badminton, broadcast performance, and of course building an eternal marriage.

Our Vacation Pt. 1

We are on Summer vacation! It's just like when I was a kid and had a nice, long Summer break, except for the fact that it's not as long. This Summer vacation has been 7 weeks long, and I haven't even updated my blog at all- shame on me. But, our vacation has been more than delightful and I will begin to divulge this vacation now.

First, we went on a road trip from Rexburg to Southern California to see my family at a beach house they rented. We drove with my sister all in one day and had a blast, until about the time we hit Vegas. Then, we spent an entire week at the beach with my whole family. It was so much fun to see all of them again. We did so much fun stuff too. We

boogie boarded, jogged on the beach, went shopping in downtown L.A., and went kayaking.

Here are some pictures from shopping in L.A. We went to this place in downtown called Santee Alley with just the girls. It was a crazy place where homemade jewelry, lots of clothing and knockoffs are sold. My sister Ashley and I bought some one dollar jewelry (doesn't get much cheaper than that!) and my Mom sprung for a couple of other things for us. My sister-in-law Ashli bought some Pink (Victoria's Secret) clothing and we had a good time being the minority down a dirty alley lane...that is, until all the shops closed down. We star

ted getting worried because things were quickly closing up and we were in one of the worst neighborhoods in L.A. We saw a drunk guy fall into the street and there weren't really any females left around. We began to fear for our lives, and we were nervous that we wouldn't be able to find the place where we parked the car. Finally, we met up with my Mom's friends who we drove up with and made it safely back to their car. It was fun and one of those things that is nice to say you have done.

This basically describes the madness of Santee Alley (mind you, this really is an alley, this is not an outdoor shopping mall):

• People everywhere
• Lots of looking around and shoppers not paying attention to where they're going
• Cheap jewelry wherever you go
• Shopowners shouting or playing rap music to try to draw you in
• We were definitely the minority
• Bright, colorful umbrellas and displays
• Crosswalks built at busy streets for the alley- weird

Me and my sister Ashley had a great time hanging out. I love her!

I'll have another post soon telling about our kayaking experience

that involves sharks, dolphins and sea lions...

School's Out for Summer

You heard it right- only two more days (and only one more final) until I'm free from this semester. I'm so excited! Tom and I are meeting up with my family at the beach, then flying to Miami to spend a month with his family...soaking up the sun. I can't wait for the welcome break and opportunity to slooooooooow down. It will be glorious- I've already ordered a book off E-Bay to read! I'm going to read a normal, non-texbook, book. And, I'm going to swim in the Pacific AND Atlantic oceans this Summer. It's going to be the best summer ever. I plan to make movies of our adventures, once I figure out how to convert the video files from our flip-cam to something that I can edit.

Basically, I CAN'T wait!

Just Found Out Today

I just realized today that I have two more semesters of school left, rather than one. I could try and squeeze it all into one semester, but I will try not to kill myself. It's not that big of a deal though; I mean, I was going to have to be in Rexburg while Tom finished anyway, and now we get to graduate together! It's just that I'm so sick of school and I am ready to graduate. Fortunately, this is also giving me the opportunity to take some of the classes that I want to, but haven't been able to. That will be fun, and at least I know I'll be doing something when we get back to Rexburg. I'm sure that this is a blessing in disguise because honestly, I don't want to be working at Taco Bell next summer.

Also, I can't wait until finals are over... I'm just waiting, counting down the days, seeking for that light at the end of the tunnel. It's coming, slowly but surely.

However, Tom and I are still having tons of fun being together all the time. The weather is lovely and we have glorious vacation time ahead. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.