Firsts

I spent my FIRST Thanksgiving away from family and our first since being married. It was a little rough for me in the morning (I admit I was a little teary while watching the parade), but got better as the day went on. Jason played in his FIRST "Turkey Bowl" that morning while I cooked, and I think had a blast. He came in the door covered in mud and said, "I played some manball." I am pretty sure he came up with that one..... We had dinner and spent the afternoon with all of our friends at the Eager's house and had such a great time. It was so great to be with close friends who are our family here. I could not ask for better friends-they are the best!






Last night we got our FIRST real Christmas tree! It was so fun going and picking one out. Of course it took awhile for me to make a decision on the right tree (I have no idea where Jason wandered off to while I was doing that) and finally I found it! We decorated it and it is sooooo beautiful! I love having a real tree in the house because the smell brings back so many memories of being younger. I think that is why I love Christmas time so much because I feel like a kid again. I found some new really cute Christmas decor this year-I love decorating!





This morning was the FIRST snowfall that actually stuck to the ground and we woke up with snow-covered trees. It was so gorgeous! Jason also said it was his FIRST snowfall of the season for him since he was about nine. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. It was really cute.

Friday was the FIRST day after Thanksgiving I had to work in four years. Believe me I did not want to work, but at least it wasn't in retail.

We do have one LAST thing that will happen this week. Jason has his LAST birthday in his twenties on Tuesday. He will be turning 29 (yikes!) and will enter his thirties in one year. Crazy!!! When I was younger I never would have imagined I would marry someone four years older than me-I can't believe I will be married to someone almost 30! I remember my Grandpa would always tell us he was 29 when we were little....now I am married to one! Tonight we had our friends over for birthday cake and cupcakes. I love having people come over...it just feels great when my house is full of people, ESPECIALLY amazing friends!

Unbelievable!

On November 18 Jason and I celebrated our two-year anniversary! I honestly can't believe it, it seems like I just moved to Las Vegas and seems like we just met. The past two years have been great, we have had so many changes but through it all it seems like it has run pretty smoothly (even though sometimes it doesn't feel that way). I am so grateful for Jason and still can't believe I am even married. He is definitely my other half...we compliment each other so much. I am getting used to his sometimes lame jokes, but find myself laughing at them more instead of rolling my eyes (everyone who knows Jason knows what I mean). I think he has gotten used to me being clumsy kind of (by the way I fell down the stairs AGAIN on Sunday) and also me falling asleep during movies and being totally out of it at night. All in all, I am so glad I made the best decision of my life!

I had to work late on the actual day so when I got home Jason had dinner on the table, Martinelli's (my fave!) and apple pie with the best ice cream, Whitey's. He is such a sweety! Here are some flash back pics!







For those of you who do not know how Jason and I met I figure I can write it and not take up a whole page (hopefully). I moved to Vegas with my cousin Jayme in summer 2005. Best times ever! Anyway, we were told to go to this specific singles ward and because the building was only a block from our condo we figured it was the right place. So we went to church and knew no one and sat down in a pew. This ward was enormous so there were tons of people so I am sure we were not the only unfamiliar faces there. This guy comes in and sits next to Jayme and I remember looking at him and thinking, "Oh he is kind of cute". It was Jason, and he was wearing a pink shirt and tie and really tan and had a lot of scruff on his face (mmmhmmm). He introduced himself and his roommates and invited us over for dinner. He was nice but we were not all that interested since I think we both had other interests in mind. We were kicked out of that ward after a couple of Sundays and it turned out we were in a completely different Stake. Jayme and I would hangout with Jason and his friends sometimes, but really I had no interest in him and he had none for me. We were so different from each other, I liked structure, he lacked it. He was really laid-back and I, a little high strung. But, we became good friends somehow and after a few months something clicked. We started dating and I fell hard for this one. He was completely not my type and I am pretty sure I wasn't his. We came from completely different backgrounds and families but somehow we just worked. There were lots of ups and downs but finally 8 months later he realized he couldn't find someone else like me (wink, wink) and proposed. Then 5 months later we were sealed in the Temple and now two years later we live in Iowa and are living an amazing life together. It is funny how things work out and how fast time flies. Our first year of marriage was amazing living in Vegas and both having amazing jobs that paid really well and worked great with our schedules. We did a lot of things I think most newlyweds are unable to do and we love looking back at those things. We are looking to many more good times!

Yummy....

Last weekend my friends and I had a baby shower for our friend K. It was so fun and I got to do the desserts for it. I made cupcakes that were so yummy and had these cake pops (thank you Bakerella )! They were so fun to make and they turned out soooo cute! I might add that they tasted amazing too!

Favorites......

.......about this fall

~Our Primary Program is this upcoming Sunday and I am so excited! I love being in Primary and teaching these kids. They are a little rowdy at times but when they sing I can feel the Spirit so much! The two songs they are singing this year that honestly make me tear up sometimes is "I Am a Child of God" and "I Love to See the Temple". I can remember the Sunday I learned "I Love to See the Temple" and I remember singing the words and thinking about when I would go there and get married. "I Am a Child of God" of course is the sweetest because their little voices are so innocent when they sing it. I have a distinct memory of my niece Darcy singing this song when she was one or two to me over the phone and crying listening to her sweet little voice. Last night I spoke to my four year-old niece Mylie and she had her program already and she sang three songs to me from it. I love Primary and I think it is such a wonderful thing for kids to attend and learn things. I am always in awe about the questions they answer and the things they know about the Gospel.


~I love my friends here and I am so grateful for them! We are having a big Thanksgiving feast at one of their houses and I honestly cannot wait. This will be my first Thanksgiving away from my parent's house and that is "our" holiday. My mom makes so much food and we always have a big crowd so I am really glad we are able to spend it with friends we love here and their families. I think it will make it a bit more easier for me to be away.

~The leaves are so beautiful here and I can't believe how many different colors one tree can get. I love driving down a street with trees lining it and watching in my mirror the leaves on the street fly with the passing of my car. I know, I know that sounds dumb and dreamy but I LOVE it! The only thing about leaves the bothers me a little is that we only have one tree in our yard but somehow we had over 20 bags full of raked leaves we put out for the the trash! (By the way-sorry I didn't take this picture of the leaves-I wish I was that lucky-but my neighborhood did look somewhat like that a few weeks ago!)



~Somehow fall makes me feel a little crafty and this year especially. I have made a few things I am proud of! Jason and I made a fabric covered headboard for our room, which turned out pretty nice and only cost us $15. I made a wreath for our front door and also one for a friend at work. We had a Souper Saturday and I made a cute wall hanging for Christmas. My favorite thing I did was we got a bunch of smaller pumpkins and I painted them with metallic paint in bronze and copper colors and they are sooooooo cute! I am really looking forward to doing some more stuff for Christmas and also, I found a new love for baking and now that my Kitchen Aid is finally fixed I will be making some yummy treats!