CHRISTMAS

Josh and I have had the best week! We had a blast at a party with the extended Clarke family, with some competitive games of volleyball. The Tueller Family Party was on Sunday with lots of caroling to the neighbors. We also had so much fun with the Hawkins on Christmas Eve. We had a great meal, opened gifts, and played games. We loved seeing Jess and Jenn's families from out of state. What a treat! And Christmas day was wonderful with my family yesterday. And more parties are coming this weekend! What a great time of year, to be with family. Josh and I are SO happy to be married this Christmas! We'll add fun Christmas pictures when we get home to our computer.

Confession: my apartment is a mess

The last few posts were all about good things I'm doing..."Look at me! I got into the BFA program!" or "Look at me! I spent hours making cookies to give to others!" And I'm feeling a little embarassed about all your nice comments. So today I need to balance out those little braggy posts with a post that's a little more humble! :) I will tell you that right now my apartment is a mess! I have been so BUSY these last few weeks, that I haven't given it a good clean. My sweet Aunt Margaret came over yesterday and she hadn't seen the apartment before. I gave her a quick tour, but was so embarrassed by the clutter everywhere. Talk about humbling. I did do laundry a few days ago, but only because I was forced to: We were running out of the essentials! And I also haven't made dinner since Sunday. Yikes. I'm feeling guilty, but I've promised Josh I'll get back into the normal routine once finals are over. Luckily, even without making dinner we've been well fed. We went to a fun Hawkins Christmas party on Monday - which included a great dinner, my Mom provided lunch and dinner for us Tuesday, and my sweet visiting teacher brought us dinner last night. So we've gotten by just fine. But I'm not good at accepting favors, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I can't wait to get back into the regular swing of things, to be back on my cleaning schedule and having dinner on the stove when Josh comes home! The good news is I just have one more final left this afternoon, then I am going to jump right into the household chores. Man, I can't wait to get this place cleaned up.

cOoKiE fAcToRy

Yesterday we made batch after batch of cookies, to take to the families we visit/home teach, the Bishop, Relief Society presidency, etc. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I made all of the cookie dough! We figured out a good method, though. Josh and I each had little duties and we refined our technique until we had the "cookie factory" running very smoothly. It was a fun morning making all of the cookies, and it was a fun evening delivering them. One of my very favorite parts of the Christmas season is making little goodies and delivering them.

Josh was a real trooper. I pulled him along and he drove me around the area as we tried to find everyone's apartment. Finally, after an hour and a half of deliveries, we got home only to realize that I had lost one of my gloves along the way :) We hopped back in the car and re-drove our whole route. Of course, we found the glove at the very last home we had delivered to. Isn't that how it always goes!?

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert

Saturday night we went to the MoTab Christmas Concert with Jae and his date. It was really fun. I honestly LOVE Christmas concerts. I was so glad to be there, after missing all the concerts last year while I was in New Zealand. The choir sounded amazing, as usual. Josh and I especially loved "O Holy Night" and their comical rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". What a great night.

It was FREEZING as we waited in line to get in. I slipped my little black gloves on Josh's ears as a joke, but he actually kept them on...he'd take any warmth he could get. I loved it. No shame!

BFA Program

This will be a crazy week with FINALS, so I'll make a few posts this morning, then you probably won't hear from us the rest of this week. Here is my good news of last week: I've been in the art program since I've been at BYU, but a few weeks ago I applied to the Bachelor of Fine Arts program which is the top tier of the art program. You can apply once you've completed the certain foundational classes. It requires much more work than if I were to get just a Bachelor of Arts. A BFA degree is what you'd need if you wanted to get into a serious Master's program. A BFA also requires you to have your own final show before you graduate. Anyway, I just got notice last week that I was accepted into the BFA program! Yay! I was really excxited. One very nice perk about being in the BFA program, as opposed to the BA, is that I will get my own studio space on campus. It will be so nice to paint on campus, rather than keeping all my painting stuff in the corner of our front room. Josh has been patient with me, but now my art stuff will be out of the way!

My Cooking Life-Saver!

I got this Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook as a wedding gift and I have relied on it so much! It's my favorite. Since I'm still new at the whole cooking thing, I have questions nearly every night as I make dinner. My immediate reaction to questions that arise in the kitchen is to frantically call my Mom. But if I can't get a hold of my Mom (or if I'm too embarrassed to call my Mom about simple things like mashed potatoes or gravy), then I resort to the Better Homes Cookbook! It's awesome. It ranges from simple hints to fancy recipes with ingredients that I've never heard of. Tonight we tried a thick chili with ground beef, all sorts of beans, onions, green pepper, garlic, canned tomatoes, and various seasonings. It was SO yummy. We'd been eyeing it in the cookbook for a while and I'm glad we finally tried it!

Cabbage Patch Christmas

Cabbage Patch Kids,

So Laura and I went to mom and dad's for dinner this past Sunday (On a side note dinner was amazing!) and Mom gave me my own copy of "Cabbage Patch Christmas," courtesy of Jake. I was laughing so hard as mom played the CD during dinner. It lasted about five songs until 'Gimme, gimme gimme take take take,' when pops turned it off with a roll of his eyes. Nonetheless, the true spirit of Christmas was felt, and I remembered all the years growing up, listening to the tunes of the cabbage patch. Those little tykes sang it how it was. Thanks mom for having that CD in the first place, and thanks Jake for bringing it back. I'm sure Jason will always be playing his. :)

Anyway, what would Christmas be without the cabbage patch!?

Painting Away

This semester I've been doing so much painting. I've loved it. I am doing a series of paintings on the Great Salt Lake. I've been intrigued by the contour line of the lake's perimeter and how it is constantly rising and retreating. The paintings are meant to reference that concept. I've done 30 of them and am nearly done with the series. It's been a lot of fun to paint again. The whole summer was consumed with wedding plans, and I never even picked up a paint brush. It's wonderful to get back into it. Here are a few of the paintings:

Phase 10

I just have to brag a little bit about Josh's come-back victory last night: Josh and I played a heated game of Phase 10 last night with Abe and Meg. Josh was behind from the very start. At one point he was 2 or 3 rounds behind the rest of us. Things did not look good for him. I'm not sure quite how this happened, but somehow Josh caught up to us and was in second place, behind Meg, with just one more round to go. It was a tense final round, but Josh pulled away with the victory! That's my man! ....(I tied for last place with Abe.)

Taking a Breather

We made it through some very busy weeks of school, and now we are anxious to relax this week during our Thanksgiving break. It will be so nice to take a little breather before we finish up these final weeks of the semester. We can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with the Hawkins family, and to spend time with the Clarkes as well. (And of course, we're totally pumped for the game on Saturday!) What a great week!

It's on at dawn!!!

This Saturday, November 24, 8-2 BYU play 8-3 Utah at Lavell Edwards Stadium. The kickoff is at noon! If I already didn't love my in-laws enough, they went and scored a pair of tickets for Laura and me. It's going to be amazing!!! Click below for a little recap of last year's game. In case you missed it, all you really need to see is the last play. Becky, please don't show this to Hema... junior or senior. Beck is the man!!

A beautiful thing!!

Every once in a while something so beautiful comes along that just has to be passed on. Such was the case with the mullet. Barry Bonds' trainer said it best when speaking to Barry about steroids, he said, "This stuff will change your life." Granted, what you are about to see isn't steroids, but it's every bit as addicting. Don't believe me? Check out the link for yourself, and meet the conchords... revolutionists of our day. Click here to laugh (This is an amazing music video about our time and our issues. These guys hit it right on the head.)

Thanksgiving 2006

As Thanksgiving approaches, I've been thinking of where I was last year: Across the ocean in New Zealand. I remember really missing my family at this time - espcially as I got the many emails being passed around from my extended family about the details of the Thanksgiving meal. It became quite comical. I heard all the deatils about who was bringing the mashed potatoes, the pumkpin pie, and other delicious dishes, even though I wouldn't be there for it. They were just rubbing it in! My mouth would just water as I read the emails. I shared my holiday meal with Jane. With no hope of a traditional meal, we opted for Pizza Hut. I'm grateful I'll be home this Thanksgiving and to be spending it with the Hawkins!

No One Likes Bad Soup

Last night I set Josh up for disaster. I knew I'd be on campus til late, so I asked Josh to put together an easy clam chowder for dinner. He followed the directions perfectly, but I think it was a bad recipe from the start. And bad clam chowder is something you don't want anything to do with! Poor Josh. I totally set him up. Next time I ask him to make dinner, I'll give him a good, tried-and-true favorite, not a new, mystery recipe!

Despite the bad soup, however, Josh busted out some killer garlic bread. I just planned on having french bread with the soup, but Josh slapped some butter and garlic on the loaf and threw it under the broiler. Yum.

My Cute Husband

This picture is nearly a year old, but I love it. Isn't Josh handsome!? Last December the Hawkins had pictures taken with the whole family, then each of Josh's siblings had several pictures with their spouses and children. Since Josh was single at the time, he just got tons of sweet solo shots taken.

Our little friend

Leafy, the leaf bug. Found outside our apartment. (Thank goodness for the bug catcher we were given at out wedding dinner). A true friend. Lover of lettuce, grass, and parsley flakes. Given to Logan, who cared for him diligently. Died after 3 weeks in captivity. May he rest in peace.

Home Cookin'

Things started out rough as I learned how to cook! Josh was very patient as found out time and time again just how hot our oven is. Now we can look back and laugh at these stressful moments in the kitchen. After much practice, things have improved:








Sunday
Roasts:

So simple,
So good!







Pizza: A big hit with Josh! An even bigger hit when we made a few alterations: wheat pizza dough, ham, pineapple and mushrooms!

Sunday Dinner with Marie and Jae: lemon pepper chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, squash, and green beans.






Last night's new recipe, Chicken Fettucine Cacciatore: Yum. Honestly, I don't even know what "Cacciatore" means, but I'm guessing it's defined as 'really yummy pasta'. Chicken, pasta, diced tomatoes, brocoli, green pepper, onion, garlic, a little seasoning, and Voila!

Que Linda Pareja!!

Pretty much anytime you and your wife have a picture in sombreros, it just needs to be shown. This is from a vacation Lar and I went on with my family to Mexico this past summer. The people of Mexico loved us and wanted us to stay, but unfortunately, we had to come back and start school. Mexicans on the street flocked to us in these sombreros. We felt "one" with the people.

Portion Control

One morning I sat down for a nice healthy bowl of chocolately Cocoa-Roos, part of a well-balanced breakfast! That's how I am, I like to start my mornings off the right way. Well, Lar decided to join me with a nice big bowl of her own. Here is her bite-sized portion (literally) next to mine. Needless to say, her day wasn't as energized as mine...

While Josh Was Away

After much peer-pressure from my sister and I, Logan reluctantly agreed to wear his little bee costume from years ago. He put the sting back into Halloween.

While Josh was back in DC with Jess and Sterling, I had some fun of my own! Marie and I dressed up as janitors for the Tueller Family Halloween Extravaganza!

Welcome to our blog

This is our official blog. As of today, we have been happily married for three months. We are both in school at BYU, and life is busier than ever. Nonetheless, we are loving every minute of it, and are having so much fun!