ARGGGGGGGGGG

Why does it have to be a never ending battle keeping the house straight and organized?  Why do I always feel like this..

Ok it's really not that bad but I do feel like it takes me all day to maintain a clean, organized house.  I hate to have things out of their place and like for my home to feel inviting and somewhere we can enjoy being together as a family instead of thinking "we need to get out of his heck hole"  LOL  I know living with limited closet space is one of the big sacrifices I make right now.  I was telling Chris last night that when we move next year, he is getting his own closet where he can keep all of his Army gear so that it isn't cluttering up my house.  Noah, well let's just say that child has every toy or gadget ever invented.  He will never have a room big enough for all of his stuff.  We have gotten creative on how we organize his room and it has been working pretty well.  


The one spot in the house that absolutely drives me insane is the desk area.  Between all of my school stuff and Chris' school stuff that desk is always a disaster area.  Yesterday I went through and cleaned it up and found so much stuff that we didn't need and filled up two trash bags.  Yes, two trash bags just from the desk area ONLY for my husband to come home and go through what I thought could be thrown away.  Apparently he didn't think throwing away the never used binders that he bought three years ago was a good idea.  ARGGGGGGGGGGG...note for next time TAKE THE TRASH TO THE DUMPSTER BEFORE HE COMES HOME! 


 

Thought I was going to be in trouble......

Last night we went to Provo Towne Center to the Sprint store because my phone has been giving me problems. The spot where we always go in has a Game Stop right when you walk in.  Chris was with us so of course we had to stop in there too.  We went to the Sprint store only for the rude sales associate to tell us that they do not do repairs there.  (would have been nice if Sprint told me that on the phone earlier)  Then we ate dinner at the food court and then headed downstairs to Game Stop.  While we were in there Noah asked for a game for the PS3.  Chris said if we were going to get it that we had to get it at Best Buy so he could get points on his rewards card. (we have to buy all of our electronics and Blue rays from there or Chris has a cow).  It was 7:30pm so Chris said we would just go to Best Buy tomorrow.  So this morning I decided I would just go when I headed into Orem to the Sprint store that could fix my phone problem.  Chris gave me his Best Buy rewards card and his Best Buy credit card to go get the game for Noah.  While I was there I thought it would be a good idea to replace my little digital camera that I have had for about 6 or 7 years now.  I have a D3000 which is great but I wanted one to carry in my purse for spur of the moment pictures instead of carrying around a purse and a huge bag with my other camera.  Well, I did it.  I got me a new camera.

(This was me surprising him with my new camera.  LOL)

To my surprise he wasn't even mad.  I tell you what, I am the luckiest girl ever.  I also told him that the Best Buy lady told me next time the card had to be signed on the back or I wouldn't be able to use it and he immediately signed the back.  Oh boy, what was he thinking.  LOL  So I have a new camera and my husband still loves me.  This is awesome!  So in celebrating my great buy today I wanted to take a picture of our dinner tonight.  It was soooooooooooo good.  We got a premade pizza crust and sauce.  Then I chopped up mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, and  red yellow and orange peppers topped with cheese and wa-la!  It was so good.  

Im so glad I am married to a man who sees how much I love to spend money and still loves me at the end of the day.

Is it really Winter?

We have had such a great Winter.  Hardly any snow and what we have gotten has just been a dusting.  Last night as I was going to be I said something about not having enough snow this Winter.  Chris then looked out the window and it was snowing.  It is still snowing now but not too heavy.  Looks like Frosty the snowman was excited to come for a visit.  

Noah will be so happy to get some snow so he can snowboard and play in it.  For Christmas he got a snowball gun and hasn't been able to use it very much.  Hopefully he will get a little use out of it today!  I can't believe I am going to say this but......It is nice to finally have some snow on the ground.  Utah definitely needs the moisture and if we are gonna do winter I say let it snow!

Observation hours

Last week I started my Bachelor's program which consists of 100 hours of observation in the classroom before I can start my student teaching.  I sent Noah's principal an email last week to see if it would be possible for me to do my observation there.  The next day I received and email back from him letting me know that he would love to have me come in and observe.  I went in today thinking that I would be setting up times to come in and observe.  Good thing I dressed accordingly because they put me in a classroom right away.  I had the privilege of visiting Miss Dunnigan's 6th grade math class today.  I got my first 1 1/2 hours in and after class I was able to interview her for one of my assignments due toward the end of my course.  I had a great time and can't wait to get into the classroom and teach.  I had a blast.  Can't wait to go back for more observation.

Still waiting...

I am so not a patient person.  This waiting stuff stinks.  We should find out this week where our 1st duty station is going to be and when we have to report.  Emails started going out today and of course we did not get one.  Sometime this week we will find out but Im so tired of waiting.  It will be interesting to see where the Army wants to put us but Im so glad to know that the Lord has his hand in it too so we will be going where he feels we need to be.  COME ON ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!  Once the email comes in and we notify our family, we will make a post here and on facebook.  Stay tuned to what great adventures lie ahead for our family!

Family Game Night

Being a family is such a blessing and I don't want to miss any opportunities to spend time together.  We always make time for each other and do A LOT together because that is what is most important.  I was raised in a close family and want the same for our children.

 Noah loves to play games.  He picked "LIFE".  It is such a fun game and he has the Spongebob version.  We all had a blast and we played several rounds.

 Chris won each time but we still all had fun.  Being together and laughing and just enjoying each others company is what made it fun.

And here is a picture of Noah and I sporting our pajamas.  Chris was still in his church clothes but Noah and I decided we wanted to be comfortable.  Game night is now a tradition in our home!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know that there are people who do not like Valentine's day.  I personally LOVE it.  Chris and I are really good about making each other feel loved every day all year long but Valentine's day is a day where we can celebrate our love even more.  I like making a nice romantic dinner at home.  Chris and I have never been big on gifts for Valentine's day.  Chris does get me flowers each year and then we have a nice dinner.  This year was no different......it was amazing!

 For dinner I decided I was going to plan what we had this year.  I choose the PF Changs freezer meals.  They actually were really really good.  We did the beef n broccoli and then we also had General Changs Chicken.  Then I made a pot of rice.  It was soooooo good.  We topped it off with Cranberry Apple Sparkling Cider and I made a cherry cheesecake for dessert.

 Dinner was nice and romantic.  It was nice to be able to be at home and have a very intimate dinner with my Valentine.

These are the beautiful roses that my sweetheart got for me.  He really knows how to make me feel so special.  I am one lucky girl!

BYU Mens Basketball

With this possibly being our last year in Utah there were some things that I wanted to do.  One of them was going to a men's BYU basketball game.  Noah loves basketball and so does Chris so I thought this would be a great opportunity for us as a family to go see the Cougars play!

This is our little COUGAR fan!  He was super excited to go see the game and got all decked out for it.

This is his "too cool" pose.  hahahahha He is so funny!  He always has us laughing about something.

And then of course the Mr and Mrs had to have their picture taken.  We had so much fun at the game!  BYU has been good to us!  We have loved our time here!  Utah is beautiful and we live in the best neighborhood ever!  We are extremely blessed!

Noah the athlete

Noah is playing basketball again this year.  He has the same coach he had last year (which is great cause he is great).  The first game of the season Noah made the first shot of the game!  He was super excited.  Since then he has made at least one or more shots for the team.  I love that they are keeping score this year.  I will have to say it gets a little heated in there with some of those parents.

He loves going to practice and enjoys his games.  This year it is nice to see that he is hustling instead of just going with the flow.  He wants to win and is really working for it.  I am very proud of the progress he is making.

Fundraising for our adoption

Adoption has become a HUGE part of our family over the past few years.  Chris and I want nothing more than to have a house full of kids, but the Lord has a different plan on how we are to get our children.  They may not grow in my tummy, but they will definitely grow in my heart.  With that being said, Chris and I have decided to raise some money for our adoption so that when we do get that special call, we can put our money to providing the best possible environment for our new addition.  How are we raising the money?????

COOKBOOKS!!!!!!!!  I have spent the past week collecting and typing up recipes to make into a cookbook as a fundraiser.  As it has been fun, it has also being a lot of work.  The cookbook will have 250 recipes.  We are selling them for $10.00 each and are hoping to sell 500 of them.  This will pay for a good portion of our adoption.  The books will be in the end of February!  The cookbook is called "Southern Cooking"  "Friends and Family Supporting Adoption"  It is going to be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Adoption has blessed many families all over the world and we look forward to the blessing we will receive through this wonderful miracle.  Spread the word....Chris and Amy are hoping to Adopt!!!!