White Death

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my looooooong days at work. I go to work in the morning, straight to class from 11:30-1:00 and then straight back to work until about 6:00. For my convenience and for the sake of our budget, I keep a drawer full of these at work to eat for lunch on those long days.

I don't have to pack it in the morning, I don't have to worry about it going bad, and I don't have to worry about the cost, as they are a whole 23 cents! Along with a yogurt and piece of fruit or bag of carrots, this has been my lunch for a few weeks now. (oh, and usually a cookie or two) This week however I have had 5 comments made to me about my food choice---all negative. My favorite--- "They call that white death, you know." I guess because of the low nutritional value, ramen noodles have been labeled "white death."

Don't worry though, I'm still going to fill my cart with them at the grocery store this weekend. I would rather fight the "white death" then give up the feeling of accomplishment I have when I leave the store with 3 bulging bags of groceries while spending under $20. :)

Faith

There was an excellent talk given today in church and I am confident that it was for us. The speaker told a story about a little blind girl who was sitting on her father's lap while on the train. The person sitting next to the father offered to give the man a rest and hold the child for a while. After the daughter had been sitting on the person's lap next to her father for a short time, the father leaned over and asked, "Do you know who is holding you?" The girl replied, "No, but you do."

She had enough faith in her father that she knew he would not put her in harms way. We are often put in similar situations. When asked by our Heavenly Father, "Do you know why that happened?" we need to have the same faith as that young girl and respond, "No, but you do."

Christmas Time

Christmas time was magical this year, as always. It also went by in a flurry! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the Taylors. Christmas Eve, we decorated cookies, shopped for gifts to send to soldiers, and then were each given $5. We drew names and had to get that person a gift with our $5. I had Keith and it was still surprisingly hard, but fun. Before we exchanged gifts, we had to come up with a spiritual thought to go with our gift...... they were pretty good, I must say!!

After that, we had Christmas dinner and opened gifts

Grandma Taylor and Mackenzie (Jason and Ashlie's baby)

One of the funniest moments of the evening was when Bill and Katherine passed out everyone's gifts before we opened them. Keith had a pile that kept growing and growing, with some BIG boxes. He got all excited to open them when Bill told Keith and Ashlie to switch places (and therefore gifts) and Jason and myself to switch places and gifts. They had marked all of the gifts opposite of whose they were, to be tricky. It was pretty comical!

Keith loving his pile and getting excited to see what might be in some of those boxes.

And then we switched. (It was for the better though, I don't know what Keith would have done with a high chair, serving platter, or anything else Ash got.)

We stayed the night at our own apartment Christmas Eve for the first time since we've been married. We usually stay at one of our parents houses, but since we live in the basement apartment of the Taylors, we got the best of both worlds.

Santa surprised Keith with some fun goodies under the Tree on Christmas morning.

Then we spent Christmas afternoon and night at my parents house. We all got to talk to my younger brother Wesley, who is on a mission. (Love that kid!)

My Dad, opening his tie hanger

My Mom, opening one of her gifts

Whitney and Grandma Cornwall (My Mom's Mom)

The cutest of us all, Baby Santa Clause Caden

We had such a great Christmas and we are so grateful for this time of year and the reason for celebrating.

November.... in one post

So, it's been a little while...... sorry about that. School is now over for the semester, hallelujah! Maybe updates will come more regularly...... maybe.

Here's a little bit of the happenings from the past 6 weeks, or however long it has been.

On November 15th Brandon and Becky had their baby!! YAY!! Our first Nephew! They named him Caden Charles Mennear, and we can not wait to meet him!! (I couldn't pick just one picture, so here's a few)

I think these are 2 of my favorite!

(Really? Could he be any cuter?)

I was sad he couldn't wait 3 more days till my birthday, but we are so happy he is here, healthy and strong!

I don't have any pictures from my Birthday, but it was pretty much a week long celebration. By the time my Birthday came, Keith was forbidden to sing "Happy Birthday" any more. (He sang it multiples times a day to me starting at least 4 days before my birthday) Anyway, thanks everyone for the phone calls, messages, gifts, and everything else! I love you all!

Later in November we drove to Wyoming to see some of our friends, the Turners. Almost the whole Turner family worked at Scout Camp the summer we did, so we got to know them pretty well. 3 of the kids were in a play, so we went to watch and visit. Alicia, the youngest, has been my faithful pen pal. :) She would always send me fun letters in Dominica that would totally brighten my day!

We were so grateful to be home and with our families for Thanksgiving this year!

This picture is a lot of things, but mostly gross and embarrassing. We were not put at a table by ourselves to eat, the table was actually full of people. Everyone else ate, talked, and completely cleared the table of everything but what Keith and I were still eating ..... And yes, we started at the same time as everyone else. (I'm trusting that someone will be proud of and not just disgusted with this confession)

My youngest cousin Morgann, the flying turkey. She was flapping her arms and running and jumping around being a flying turkey until Tobin was nice enough to actually fly her around. She kept telling people she was going to "Peek" them with her peek, instead of peck them with her beak. Too cute!

My extended family always play Bingo, and the prizes are worth keeping! The head apparel that's won is usually nothing short of amazing..... this year was no different.

After dinner with my family, we went to Keith's family get-together.

(above:Keith and his mom below: Me and Keiths cousin Ashley)

So, there's an update. Sorry this is the longest post know to man, I'll try to do better! (but no promises!)

finals

I have not dropped off the face of the planet, promise. My last final is Wednesday and if I make it out alive, I'll finally update this beast. Thanks to everyone who continually blogs though, it gives me something to do during class (and at night, instead of homework). :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is Keith's 28th Birthday! Holy Moly! I can't believe it! He really is an incredible person though, and here are just 28 reasons why:

1. He is easily the most patient man...ever!

2. He is actually pretty funny, even though I tell him he's not

3. He has self discipline that is OUT OF THIS WORLD!

4. He is very devoted to the things he loves

5. He spoils me rotten, even if it means he will have to go without

6. He is a great help around the house and does dishes and laundry all of the time! (without me asking)

7. He is a great cook.

8. His testimony of our church is rock solid.

9. He always prays first thing in the morning.

10. He writes in his journal daily.

11. He would love to be a ski bum.

12. He will probably never go bald, he has nice thick hair.

13. His skin smells good even when he doesn't have on cologne. (except for the 2 days after he eats something full of garlic)

14. He is an excellent teacher!

15. He doesn't love to get his hands dirty unless it is on the football field, but he will if he needs to.

16. He is a good example of service.

17. He is very routine-oriented. He likes to go to bed, wake up, work out, etc. at the same time every day.

18. He tries his hardest to help me be a better person.

19. He loves kids.

20. He is really fun to be around, I love to stay home and hang out with him in the evenings.

21. He is respectful of his parents.

22. He is a very hard worker.

23. He lost 70 lbs. in 1 1/2 years (thanks to his work ethic)

24. He can now dunk a basketball again! (thanks to his weight loss)

25. He loves all products produced by Apple.

26. He is a surprisingly talented actor!

27. He would ride a motorcycle year round if he could.

28. He never treats anyone badly and has a heart of gold!

To celebrate, we went to dinner and had French Silk Pie for dessert, since Keith isn't a huge cake person. He had to blow out candles that were in jars, since we didn't know where the birthday candles were.

He got a new basketball for his birthday--I caught him mid word in this picture.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH! I LOVE YOU!

Halloween 2009

We did a few different things the day of Halloween. We spent Halloween Eve and Halloween morning/early afternoon with my cousins in Idaho Falls while my Aunt and Uncle were in Utah. We then came home and Whitney and Tobin along with our friends Brian and Dana came over for dinner, which was soup in a loaf and then caramel apples.

Brian the cowboy with a gross wig (tucked under his arm) and some serious chaps made of fur!

Dana had a great witch costume!

I haven't dressed up for years, but thanks to my Aunt Juanita who pulled through with a costume for me as we were leaving her house, I was a bird this year.

Keith, of course, was a pirate. He has been working on this outfit for years, and adds something to it every year. This year it was huge rings on his fingers, a shrunken head hanging off his belt, and beads in his wig.

Whitney and Tobin came without costumes, so Whitney got to be Medusa and Tobin got to be a bat-like fairy (Thanks once again to Aunt Nita for sending additional costumes)

He was really thrilled about the wings. :)

After dinner we made a few quick visits and ended the evening around a fire pit with warm apple cider. Happy (late) Halloween!