Sunday, January 23, 2011

|{ Falling For Niagara }|

Last weekend Jon and I decided to take a drive up to see Niagra Falls!! Neither of us had ever been to Canada, so that was cool to visit another country, even if it was just Canada.  It might have been prettier but we decided to go in January, haha.  So we took the 5.5 hour or so drive up to Niagra Falls.  We had not been on a long drive like that in a while and it was a lot of fun! We listened to the newest Artemis Fowl book on CD and munched on snacks!


(They use km/h! Weird!)


It was really cold, being January :), but was so much fun!! The falls looked so awesome!! They were partially frozen and it was gorgeous!  For those who have been and I know that you will ask, we saw it from the Canada side, which we had been told was the better side.  We have no say though since we haven't seen the New York side.  Anyway!! We got as close as we could to the water, which was really close, and it was so scary looking!! With ice chunks in the water and then shooting off the edge of the falls, it was like you were looking at the edge of the earth! Crazy!!




A rainbow!



I love everything about this picture!

Since it's cold, the water that gets sprayed into the air from the falls lands on everything and it all froze!! Even the trees had lovely frozen lines all over them!! I imagine it was similar to the ice storms I've heard so much about but have yet to see here in Michigan! It was amazing!!!

This was one of my very favorite pictures of the day!





These pretty weeds collected balls of ice on them! They look like big pearls!




We had a super great time and can't wait to go back when it's warm! :)  (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

|{ Pictures and Plans }|

We had a lovely week this week!

On Monday we went to Niagara Falls (post coming soon), we think a kitty is living under our house, we had the most delightful dinner, our cats made us laugh, all of our favorite TV shows started up again including Lie to Me, The Mentalist, White Collar, The Office, and Modern Family, and this weekend should be filled with fun and friends as well! :)

Day#14

Jon at his desk studying, blowing bubble gum, and being taken over by felines.


Day#15


Before we finally got around to rewashing and folding the towels the cats made a nice little bed out it, then Jon tucked them in for a good days sleep.

Day#16

My amazing husband surprised me and bought me Sims 3 (which I have been wanting since it first came out) and it is AWESOME!! For any Sims fans out there who have not played it yet you should! It is amazingly better and more detailed than 1 and 2! So fun!

Day#17

Everything was covered in ice at Niagara Falls due to the spray coming off of the water and the cold temperatures!

Day#18

She just looked so pretty and I was camera happy.

Day#19

A look into my daily life, a heater which sits right next to my desk to keep me toasty when it's cold, which it always is.

Day#20


MMM!! SUSHI!! We had the missionaries over for dinner and when Jon asked them what their favorite food was one said sushi (jokingly, because who would serve them sushi), and when the other didn't look so pleased with that idea Jon suggested Italian as well.  They were very impressed and surprised!  So we had a very mismatched but amazing meal of Sushi, Pesto Calabrese, and Steak! It reminded me of the movie Signs when they make that big meal with all the stuff that doesn't go together, like it was their last meal.  This would be my death day meal! Tasty!

Day#21


See the footprints?!?! I saw a kitty climb under our house!! We think he might live there! Or at least visit occasionally! We were pretty sure there was something under there and were pleased to find out it was a cute black and white kitty and not a possum!!


So, now that I am caught up on pictures we can move on a little! :)

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Josh and Taleya (from the wedding I recently went to) who just found out they are expecting a baby!! He/she should makes its way into the world around the middle of September!

Second, due to the first thing, Jon and I got to talking again about when we want to start our family and decided we really needed to get on the same page so it wasn't constantly hanging over our heads.  So after a long talk and trying to figure when would be best we have decided that we are officially (no going back) going to start trying to start our own family on August 29th, 2012 (my birthday!)!! Now we are going to focus on getting as prepared (mostly financially) as we possibly can in the next year and a half! I am so thrilled!





Thursday, January 13, 2011

|{ Suddenly Life Means So Much }|

Yesterday was a special day for Jonathan and I, January 12, 2007 was the day we met and it's always been fun for us to think back on that day, 4 years ago now, that we first saw each other.  It was a crazy day and talking about it always gets us laughing, we were so silly then, knowing nothing about each other.  It was an amazing day and the start of something truly remarkable.

This song has always reminded me of the day we met and now I'll never have to go back to the day before Jonathan.  :)



Last night we went on a date to celebrate!  We went out to dinner with a gift card that Jon got for helping one of his classmates feed her pets while she was gone over Christmas break.  It was so nice of her to give him something like that and we definitely enjoyed getting out.  I absolutely love downtown Ann Arbor! There is a lot to do and lot to see and it's just fun!  We had a fun time, it's always nice to get away from the house and talk.  Even though we spend a lot of time together at home, I am usually working or he is studying and it's nice to get away from the distractions and concentrate on just the two of us.

After dinner we came home and watched the movie Catfish (so crazy!) and enjoyed our time together! It was marvelous!!

Day#11

Kitty has not been feeling well lately and has been super unsocial.  She found a warm spot in my newly cleaned towels sitting on top of the dryer.  I guess I'll just have to wash them again.  :)

Day#12
I wore this necklace on our first date and it has been broken for quite a while now but I didn't have the heart to throw it away.  Jon fixed it for me a few days ago so I wore it on our date!

Day#13
My favorite mug!! Nothing like a warm drink on a cold day.  I love Peter Pan! (Not Tinkerbell, specifically Peter Pan. :) ) My dream is to decorate our someday future child's nursery/bedroom with a Peter Pan theme.  How perfect is that?! 


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Long Lovely Walk

Jon and I decided that we really missed walking.  We walked EVERYWHERE when we were in Italy and now we never do.  So we decided that on Monday's, since he usually doesn't have required classes and it's my day off, we would take a walk up to the grocery store and back.

Yesterday was our first time and it was awesome!! It took us a little over an hour in walking time, an hour and a half including time spent in the store.  By the time we got back we were sore and it was awesome! Yay for doing something active, in the snow even!! It was awesome!! I had to by a headband when were there because my ears froze on the way. I hate that, it hurts so bad!  It was really fun and I can't wait to do it again!

Jon is sick right now and I feel so bad for him.  He really really hates being sick and I really hope he feels better soon!  I watched the video he had to watch on his anatomy lab today and it looked so gross!! All the insides were this nasty tanish gray color! Eww!!

Anyway! Here are my pictures from the last few days!

Day#8

Flowers I bought for Jon for one of his 12 days of Christmas gifts.


Day#9
Macro pic of my kitties feet.  She always sits on the router because it's warm.  What a dorkus!

Day#10

I was laughing because it took us a few tries to get the picture right, this is us at Meijer on our walk!!



Friday, January 07, 2011

First Weekend Of 2011

Happy First Weekend of 2011!!!  Jon and I don't have much planned this weekend, in fact I think we are getting sick.  But that's okay, hopefully it will at least wait a few more days!  On Sunday we are hoping to bug bomb our house.  We found fleas on our cats and we have NO IDEA how they got there since they are strictly inside cats, so we want to make sure, now that they are gone, that there are no more in the house that can get on them.  That also means we have to leave the house for about 4 hours total, with our pets.  So we are going to go over to our friend's, Katie and Doug, house and hang out with them for a bit!

I am loving my new work schedule, I can't remember if I mentioned it before but I was working from 1 in the afternoon until 9 at night.  I am now working from 9 in the morning, until 5 at night.  It is SO much better!! I still work Tuesday through Saturday, but that's okay. :)

I also realized that of all the things I have started doing in relation to my blog, my weight loss challenge, my Julie/Julia project, posting 6/7 days of the week with different things, even My Husband Rocks Friday, I have not completed!! I am really bad at stuff like that!!

It makes me nervous I won't be able to finish doing my Picture a Day challenge but it also makes me more determined to do it, and it's not that hard, so I can't really complain right?!

So far so good, I have taken a picture everyday! :)

Day#3
I finished the 1500 piece puzzle I started on Christmas!  Jon ended up not helping because it was too hard with all the colors.  Poor guy.

Day#4
It snowed!!

Day#5
We barbecued burgers for dinner... in January! :)

Day#6
We gave our cats baths (to help get rid of the fleas) and Asrielle bit me...really hard!

Day#7
After spending over an hour driving around lost yesterday, Jon spent a long time today making me a map of Ann Arbor and all the places we usually go! He's a life saver! :)

Monday, January 03, 2011

A Picture A Day

So this year, for the next 365 days, I am going to post a picture a day! Or at least take a picture everyday and then post them periodically!

I thought this would be a fun way to capture my day and what goes on in my life, plus it will give me a challenge so that things don't get too boring and maybe I can feel some sort of accomplishment.

I know that today is the 3rd, I didn't decide to do this until today but I do have pictures from the 1st and the 2nd.  So I'll take a picture sometime today and really get this ball rolling!!

I would love to have you join me, so let me know if you decide you want to do it as well so I can follow you!! :)

Pardon that these are both of my cats.

Day#1:




Day#2


Jon's Projects

While I was in Utah Jon spent a lot of time working on things around the house to keep him busy! This is what he did!

He decorated the guest bathroom.



He put up some Christmas decorations and finished decorating the house!
He put up the snowflakes on the sidewalk, the red lighted wreath on the door, and he made the big star on the side of the house!! :)

He also finished decorating our bedroom!
He painted the bed frame black and green.  (The colors for our room are black, gray, red, and green.) And he put the painted frame around the design behind the bed.  He also put up the mirrors on the side.

Then he painted my cedar chest so that it would match.

And he painted this!!! It stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and People of Rome") and it is something that we saw all over Rome! He has never painted before! Didn't he do great!

He also did tons of organizing everywhere and a few other little things that were just awesome!! He did something in almost every room in the house!! What a great husband I have!! :) I just love him so much!!




Saturday, January 01, 2011

2010 In Review

As I was thinking back on all that we have done this year I realized that it's been a REALLY big year for us!! We've done so much and a lot of really important things too!!

Click on any of the photos to make them bigger!

In January we finished up our Italy trip in Assisi, Umbria, Cagliari, Naples, and Rome, ate lots of pizza, and spent a few days in New York on our way home.



In February we made Valentine's Day dinner with my family, visited some friends in Rexburg, ID, went shooting, got our pictures taken, visited some more friends in Pagosa Springs, CO, and drove to AZ to meet some new people.


In March we went to VEGAS, Jon's best friend Josh married his love Jamie, we moved to Nashville, TN,  and Jon's brother Ben came to visit us there!


In April Jon's family came to visit us and we went to Mammoth Caves, we hung out and played games with friends, and we survived the Nashville floods!


In May we went to an awesome Cinqo De Mayo party thrown by our awesome friends Miles and Chelsey, we met our new friends Mac and Jess, we celebrated Jon's big 25th birthday, and we went clubbing for our first time!

In June we moved to Grand Prairie, TX, spent tons of time at the pool and at the mall, my sister Amber came and stayed with us for a few weeks, we enjoyed more rain and thunderstorms, and I got a job!


 In July we went bowling, caught a bunch of lizards and a frog, Jon went diving in the pool for money, and we moved to Ann Arbor, MI.



In August Jon got his white coat, we went canoeing, we went camping, we went to Mackinaw Island, we did lots of biking, and we celebrated my 22nd birthday!


In September we went to the cider mills, watched lots of football, and Jon had fun mowing the lawn!


In October we went to Hell, carved lots of pumpkins, went to Fall Ball, Kevin and Rochele's baby Connor was born, and we watched lots of scary movies.


In November Jon fixed the car, we put Christmas lights up for the first time, we went and saw Harry Potter 7, we celebrated our 3rd anniversary and drove to Ohio, we flew to Utah for Thanksgiving, my brother Skyler proposed to his girlfriend Shantell, and Jon's brother Ben left on his mission.


In December I spent lots of time with my family, I went to Rexburg, ID to visit the Fillmores, Jon did lots of projects to make the house look awesome, we celebrated Christmas just the two of us, and we celebrated New Years Eve by eating at Red Lobster and going to see Tron: Legacy!!


It's been a great year and we are both nervous and excited to see what 2011 brings.  Hopefully we'll still have fun even with no plans of moving this year!  :)  P.S. In 2010 we were in 2 countries, and visited 11 states!!