Catching Up

A lot has happened since the last time we blogged.  The week of April 11th was my spring break so I was able to relax and enjoy my time away from school.  Unfortunately, I was sick most of the week, but I still enjoyed being able to sleep in and do pretty much whatever I wanted during the day.  My birthday was that Monday and I was very grateful for all that I received.  We had some friends over Sunday night to celebrate and they took me out to lunch on Monday.  My brother also took me out for dinner.  Grant was so great to me and I really appreciate all of the gifts and sweet things I received in the mail!

we realized we didn't have matches or a lighter so I pretended to blow out the candles (the balloons are from my class... they were so great to me for my birthday)

Grant made yummy breakfast in bed for my birthday :)

Granty's sweet gifts (and thanks to Grant's mommy for the wonderful vase)

Last week Grant was able to finish up his finals so I feel like I finally have my husband back.  It's been so nice getting to spend some real time together and not worry about all of the things we have to get done.

This week has been extra fun because I had family in for my graduation!!  It feels like I graduated a long time ago since I haven't been to any classes in the past year, but it's nice to finally make it official.  And it also means I don't have to do any more assignments or get observed anymore for BYU.  Woot woot!!  Here are some pics from the exciting event.

After graduation it was fun to take some time off and spend it with my family.  My mom and I were able to find some cute things to help add some fun to our apartment.  We'll post more pictures of everything soon, but here's a sneak peek:

I love having a husband who wants to be involved in the decorating process!

We were also able to visit Thanksgiving Point while my family was in town and see the annual tulip festival.  It was a little bit disappointing because not all of the tulips have bloomed yet, but they were still beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Thanks Parker family for a wonderful weekend!  

Sorry for the long post, but it's been a packed weekend and we wanted to let everyone else in on the fun we've had.  We hope you all have a wonderful Easter and remember the incredible things the Lord has blessed you with.

Going Short

So I've been needing a haircut for a long time and just haven't gotten around to making an appointment.  My hair has been driving me crazy, but I just kept putting it off and putting it off.  Finally this weekend I decided that I couldn't stand it anymore so I finally got it cut.  Grant's a fan of shorter hair so I decided to go for a pretty drastic change and I got several inches cut off.  I was shocked when I saw the end result and it took me awhile to decide that I like it.  I'm still getting used to it, but here are the end results.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Big difference, huh?  It's amazing how much healthier it feels and how much faster I get through styling it.  I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with different styles.  Here's a picture with part of my hair up:

The only concern I have right now is what I'm going to look like with a graduation cap on.  Only two more weeks until I'm a college graduate!!

"When you're the best of friends, having so much fun together!"

In case anyone is not aware, this post title comes from one of my favorite movies, "The Fox and the Hound."  I used it because it pretty much sums up my marriage to Grant.  One of the best things about being married to him is the fact that he is my very best friend!  We always have fun together!
I have to admit, P90X is not my favorite thing in the world, but Grant and I have set a goal so we're working hard to achieve it.  Usually we work out at different times because of our crazy schedules, but the few times that Grant and I are able to do it together it makes it a little bit more enjoyable.

yes... we have matching shirts :)

This weekend, Grant and I went on a really fun date to celebrate our 3 month anniversary.  It started off with a trip to Olive Garden, where we spent our last gift card there.  I guess we'll have to stop being spoiled now.  Afterwards, we went to see the Young Ambassadors perform.  We had so much fun!  It was a great show!  They sang a song from Hairspray so, naturally, when we got home I had to watch it.  What a great night!

handyman

So, I had my first home repair! I've put up many picture frames, a curtain rod, and other furniture but this was my first real repair! The rod in my closet bent (yes, it was metal!) It was pretty weak when we moved in but over time, it completely collapsed. As you can see in the picture below, my first attempt was to jimmy rig it with some duct tape. That worked for a couple hours but it collapsed again :(

We ran to the Home Depot to get some supplies to do the job right. I tried to convince Katie that I needed a saw to cut my own rod but she cleverly picked out a rod that was adjustable :) (although she said I can get one some day!) We got home and I went to work. I used my new drill and drilled lots of holes in the wall and in the rod itself and walah! This sucker isn't going anywhere! I'm pretty proud of my work!

snow day?

Utah weather is crazy! The weather has changed so much that past few weeks. I had to post some pictures to capture how crazy it truly is!

This picture below was taken at 7am as I left for school:

Can you believe that the picture below was taken the same day as I came home from school??!

We don't have pictures but it did this exact same thing the next day. So funny!

Our date this week was seeing Tron in 3D. The movie had some sweet action in it. I pretended to have a disk on my back and jumped around the apartment afterwards. Here is a picture from our adventure.

My new do

So I've never been one of those girls who is really good with hair and can do lots of fun things with it.  I've always wanted to be, though.  I love cute hairstyles and I get so bored with the same thing all the time.  I do mix it up with curly and straight but that's about it.  I guess that's why I have so many headbands-- they just add a little extra something.
I've always wanted to be able to do my hair with a side braid.  It's very "in" right now and I see girls with it all the time and wish so badly I could do it.  I decided today to learn how once and for all.  The one problem was that I have tried time and time again to french braid my hair and I just cannot do it.  I can't ever keep the hair tight enough for it to work.  So, I tried several times on my own today without success until I finally called Grant over to help me.  With an extra set of hands (and a few tries together) we were able to french braid my hair!  What are husbands for if they can't help you look pretty?  Just another reason I'm glad to be married to him.  We were very proud of our work and went to our friends Kelsey and Trevor's wedding reception.  Maybe someday I'll be able to get it down on my own :)

Be Mine

So I've decided that Valentine's Day is way more fun when you actually have a valentine.  I've always loved this holiday ever since I was little, but today was extra special because I had someone to share it with.  We were able to do special things for each other throughout the day and that made it a lot of fun.
This morning I made cinnamon pancakes for breakfast.  You can't tell in the picture, but they were actually pretty pink in real life.

At school I was able to handle all of the craziness and was actually pretty spoiled with treats from my class.

Then at home, the spoiling continued with gifts from my wonderful husband (oreos are my favorite)!

While Grant was at work I decided to be brave and attempt to make some Hmong food.  He was very surprised when he came home and had pho waiting for him.  I was very surprised that it actually turned out.  It actually wasn't too bad.  

For dessert we had cookies and ended the evening with hot chocolate.  I ended up making enough cookies to feed an army, but we only had enough energy (and enough of an appetite) to decorate these.  I'll probably decorate the rest tomorrow and give most of them away.

We hope everyone else had an enjoyable Valentine's Day as well.  We love all of you and are grateful to have you in our lives!!