Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Last New Year's Eve, Zane and I moved into our apartment here in Laramie-- and the move here included a blown tire, road closures,  I-80 with high wind gusts, (when it finally opened) blowing snow causing slick roads, low visibility, and a lot of prayers!

This New Year's Eve, we're happy and grateful to still be here in Laramie. Our apartment, which at first looked a little ghetto old, has become home and we love it here. We're grateful for our jobs, home, family, friends, the gospel, and the memories we've made in 2011.

We wish you all a happy, blessed, and safe 2012!    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  :D

Gingerbread Houses

On Sunday we had our friends Tyler and Katie over for dinner, and then we all made gingerbread houses. They made one together, but Zane wanted to build his own (and he wanted it to be better than mine) so we all got to work making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, homemade frosting, and candy. Here are the results :)

(Tyler's favorite part is the Buckin' Horse on the roof)

And Zane just had to have one above his door! :)

Right after we took the picture of the backside of Zane's gingerbread house, this is what happened...

The Final Products:

And it just wouldn't be Christmas without singing Christmas carols.... so Zane surprised me with an early Christmas present this year! The words to describe my reaction? Excited shock :)

I've been playing it basically every day since it was set up and love, love, love it! And Zane of course! :)

How to get a Christmas tree in Wyoming:

It starts early on a Saturday morning (and by early, I actually just mean it's about 8:30/9:00... somewhere in there..). ANYWAYS, after going by the Forest Service building (which Zane likes to refer to as the Forest Circus) to get our tree permits, we head about 30 miles out of Laramie to a very small town (in fact, I think "village" is a more appropriate word) called Centennial. Once there, we head off into the woods, which if I might add, are at an elevation of 8,000 feet. We tromp through 2 feet of snow and look at all the different evergreen trees surrounding us. Upon choosing one, you do what you have to do to cut it down....

SO, we went out last Saturday with some good friends of ours and did just that- found our Christmas tree!

The lady at the Forest Circus Service was VERY particular about where we could legally cut trees- it had to be behind the barbed wire fence. Lucky for us, this one was :) but just barely (as you can see)....   And after cutting it down, the joy of getting it back to our trucks began...

(yes, that's Zane carrying our tree across the highway...)

The view from the other direction- isn't a beautiful winter wonderland? 

Anyways, we came up in 2 truckloads, so half of us were done before the others were, and in order to pass the time, Tyler and Zane decided to leave a little surprise for Evan and Olivia when they got back ;)

Then the Yeardleys came back with their tree, and Timmy wanted to put it on top of the snow pile too...

Evan and Olivia got back with their tree and were good sports about finding the condition of the truck :)

Then they (meaning the guilty culprits) had to clean it off...

Ater cleaning off the truck, we all got on our way... and eventually (after Zane and Evan shot Evan's new pistol) we headed back to Laramie. After the tree thawed out and dried thoroughly, we brought it inside (cut off an additional 4 inches of the trunk) and got it lookin' all purty ;)

"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches" :)

It's the Holiday Season...

I had such grand plans of what I would do on the blog for this special time of year... and so far, it hasn't (obviously) happened! But oh well.. Y'all are in a forgiving mood... right?


And I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we had a good break in Star Valley with Zane's family- great food, great fun, and we met with success on Black Friday shopping might I add! It was fantastic. But as good as the visit was, it felt good to come home to our apartment... and start decorating for Christmas! So far we just have a few decorations on our walls, but we're getting our tree this Saturday! I'll post pictures once it's all done :)

Other than that, there hasn't really been anything exciting as of late. Zane is almost done with the semester- finals are next week! Phew! OH! I just thought of some news... we have callings in our ward. About a month and a half ago, the ward we were in was dissolved and we were reassigned to a different ward. To put it mildly, it's been a kinda tough transition. We had just started to really feel at home in our other ward, then, BAM! New ward. Anyways, Zane has been called as a ward missionary, and I have been called as the Primary Chorister. Which is something I think I'd enjoy, IF there weren't 55 junior AND senior primary children all meeting together at once! It's pure chaos sometimes... and might I add, especially difficult to keep little children focused while I'm talking to the older kids, and extremely difficult to keep the senior primary satisfied when I'm talking to the younger children... SO, if any of you have wonderful suggestions for how to manage/teach children ranging in ages from 4 to 11, PLEASE share your insights and knowledge with me! It won't go unappreciated.

Well, that's if for now folks! I'm so grateful for this special time of year. And of course, for all of you! chao!

Down even more!

So just a quick post today.. I'm down 11.2 lbs!! And Zane is down 15 lbs! :) This diet has gotten a little old sometimes, but I'm glad to know it's working! I can finally fit into a pair of jeans that I ordered online last year but couldn't fit into! YAY!

Another Temple!

General Conference was amazing. I loved it all. There were so many wonderful talks and musical numbers. But one of the most exciting moments was when President Monson spoke on Saturday morning and announced several more temples.. Including one in Star Valley! If you didn't have a chance to watch, here's the link of the announcement :)
http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10?lang=eng&vid=1194709741001&cid=8

It's Fall!

So with the weather getting chillier outside and with October Conference starting today, I wanted a fall wreath. But all the ones I've seen at WalMart (the only place in town to shop) were too expensive for how they looked- in other words, I didn't want to spend $20 on a some-what pretty (but generic looking) wreath or $10 on a cheap looking wreath. So what does that mean? Make my own :) I bought all the supplies at the Dollar Tree... and I think I spent about $8....

Before

After

Sorry I don't have pics of the steps I took to get to the final product, but I thought about it too late. So, Happy Fall and enjoy Conference today! I'm so excited to sit inside my cozy apartment with a pumpkin pie scented candle lit, a hearty veggie soup to eat, and the Lord's servants to listen to :) Hope y'all enjoy it too where ever you are!

Wait, did I read that right?

I recently got an email from my mother-in-law that had been forwarded from other people countless times. However, I thought it was funny, so I want to share- they're all typos that were found in non-LDS church bulletins. You might have to read some of them a couple times to catch the typo, but others are pretty obvious ;)

- The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
- Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
- Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you. 
- Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
- For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
- Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
- A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow..
- Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
- At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
- Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
- The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
- This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
- Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM . All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the BS is done.
- Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM . Please use the back door.
- Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
- The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.

Haha, I hope y'all enjoyed!- I thought they were pretty entertaining :) If you've seen any others (or thought of some clever ones) that you think are funny, please feel free to share them in a comment!

On a slightly different note, I also got an email from my mom that had been forwarded many times as well.. Anyways, I thought it would be worth sharing. Apparently this a sign that was recently put up in Alabama...

Happy Thursday!

First of all, Happy Birthday to my wonderful dad! I hope it's a great day!

Now to update y'all on the past week...

We bought a hutch a couple weeks ago and it needed a little bit of work. But after going back and forth on what color to paint it, we decided to do a fresh coat of white. The pictures probably won't do it justice (or show the fresh paint) but oh well. We added trim to the front of the shelves, as well as half round and crown molding to the top, then after painting, we added new brushed nickel hardware.

Before

After

Tuesday was Zane's birthday and I made him a Cowboy cake- go Pokes! It was a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting and a strawberry filling. And of course, we had a few Star Valley friends over to help us eat it! :)

Then on Saturday, as any serious football fans would know, it was the Wyoming/Nebraska game. The size of Laramie literally doubled in size over the weekend. There were 32,000 fans at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Zane went some from friends- We sold my ticket to a friend of Zane's so he could take his girlfriend. I was content to not face the crowds, so I had no problem staying home to watch on tv... But Zane was good and did take some pics at the game :)

Well that's all for the updates for now- I better go get ready for work! Happy Thursday y'all- have a great day!

We're Not Perfect.. So Don't Judge.

In an effort to be accountable to others, here's an update on our diet...So far,  Zane and I have been doing pretty good on our diet.... until today. In fact, we were even doing pretty good today until about 7pm. And that's when a insatiable desire for chocolate chip cookies took over. We went back and forth and back and forth on whether or not to give in and make them. And sure enough, after a little more than a half hour, we gave in. I know, we're weak! But rest assured, we've learned our lesson, because after not having sugar for the past 2 weeks, I feel sick from the cookies I ate tonight! Needless to say, we won't be doing this again. It looks like tomorrow will have to include an extra hard work out to make up for our "indiscretion" today...

A Little Preview

Here are just a couple of the wonderful pictures David took while my family was visitng us here in Laramie.. thanks bro!

A Quick Update...

Ok, so I realize it has been FOREVER since I posted. Sorry folks. Life has been a little crazy over the past month...

We left off with Cheyenne Frontier Days.. So let's just recap what has happened since then. We went to Bear Lake with Zane's family and had a blast (sadly I only got one good picture of the group- I'll post it soon!)

The following weekend my parents and brother came to visit us for a week and it was wonderful seeing them. We took them to some of our favorite places in Laramie and the surrounding area. David took some AMAZING pictures.. and as soon as I have a few of them in jpeg format, I'll post them too :)

The week after my parents left, Zane started back in school for the fall semester, and I began teaching piano lessons to a little girl in our ward. She just turned 8 yesterday and is doing so good with her lessons!

Anyways, continuing with the update: On August 31st my mother had a birthday- Happy Birthday Ma! (a little late- sorry). I'm glad it was great day for you! And I love this pic, so no other explanation needed ;)

So moving on... Labor Day weekend was spent at the Erickson reunion, and other than our camper being water damaged and unusable for the weekend, it was a great time- with LOTS of great food! If any of you have any pictures you want me to post, please email them to me! I totally forgot to take out my camera! :(


And as most of you know, Zane and I also visited a specialist that weekend who informed us that unless we quit eating sugar/breads/processed foods for a couple months, we could potentially develop diabetes in the next few years. BUT if we go on this diet and get the amount of sugar/yeast in our blood stream under control (and then keep it in control) we'll greatly lessen our chances of developing diabetes or other diseases... SO although most of our friends and family doubt our ability to do so, here's our update. We've been eating salads and water-based veggie soups for the past 5 days. Snacks have included almonds and veggies. The biggest accomplishment for us was when I made peach cobbler for our ward party on Friday night and we didn't have it or any other dessert! Then we brought the leftovers to the Star Valley boys to finish off. They were most appreciative ;) So as far as the diet goes, we tried juicing our breakfast the first morning, and after barely keeping 32 oz. of veggie juice down, we decided that we'd have to try juicing again a little later- and maybe just 8 oz. at a time instead of 32 oz.... We took pics of drinking our first sip, and oh they're awful. But don't worry, I'll probably post one of those too.

However, the exciting news is that as of this morning, I am down 5 lbs. and Zane is down 7 lbs.!! Yay us!

Another quick update is that our ward was dissolved yesterday, so we've been reassigned to the Ridgeview ward. Some of our friends from the former Washington Park ward are also in the Ridgeview ward now, but most of our friends have been assigned to different wards. *sigh* oh well. Life goes on. I'm just hoping that we make new friends and like the callings we'll get!

And of course, last but not least, Happy Birthday to Shannon! (Sorry this post is a day late! It's been a while since I've been on here...) Hope that you had a wonderful day chica! te quiero! :)

A Rockin' Weekend...

So this weekend, Zane's folks came to visit and we went to Cheyenne Frontier Days together- talk about an awesome rodeo! :) We got pretty good seats, and gratefully, we were in the shade the whole time. After we were done over in Cheyenne, we took them to a favorite local eatery of ours- Lovejoy's Bar and Grill. It was delicious! I had a buffalo chicken wrap that was incredibly spicy, but oh-so-good :) But before the adventures of Saturday, let me share a little about Friday.

Zane and I went to see the Zac Brown Band perform live! AND we were in the "Party Zone" which means that we were close enough to actually see the features on their faces.. not the sweat dripping down their foreheads, but we could at least see them rather than just blurs up on stage. Anyways, because we were in the party zone, that also meant the music was incredibly loud and the people around us were incredibly drunk. So besides my ears ringing, having to stand close to smelly cigarette-smoking strangers for 5 hours, and having beer spilled in my hair, ankles, and purse.. it was an amazing concert! :) We LOVED it. Let me say again, it was AMAZING! Here are some pictures from this weekend.