Busy Times

Life has been crazy, but so good! We only have about 3 more weeks of classes and then it's vacation time! I still have not been placed for my student teaching yet (yes, I'm going crazy!), but hopefully I'll know within the next few weeks. I'm excited to start on this next big step. I'm so ready to put what I have been learning for the past 4 years into practice! I'm ready (and maybe a bit nervous, too). As soon as I find out where I'll be doing my student teaching, I'll let you all know!

I have been lacking in the writing aspect of blogging, but I'm hoping the pictures have been great updates from us. I'll try to write more when I do post.

Sometimes [a lot] I complain about Utah. But really it's a wonderful place to live, and Tyson and I are so blessed to be where we are at today. We have a lot of big changes ahead, and I know that we have loved living here, going to school at BYU. We have been given so many opportunities and I know I do not express my gratitude as much as I should. And though I do complain about Utah, I have loved living here.  Here are some pretty pictures lately of the fall and snow recently:

Some pictures from my iphone lately:

A typical Sunday afternoon for us: naps and lounging around.

loving red lipstick lately

Game night with old friends! We had so much fun. And baby Cayden is the cutest.

Halloween costume. Selina Kyle aka Cat Woman from The Dark Knight Rises

Although I had to stand in an hour and a half line, I voted. I'm glad that I exercised this right after so many worked so hard to get it for me.

I made some homemade granola. It's yummy (but has way too many WW points, unfortunately)

I have been wanting to watch this show for awhile but held off  until I took my Praxis test. After I took the test, I started watching and caught up to the current episodes in about a week. It's such an addicting show. Seriously. And now I have zombie apocalypse dreams about once a week. It's great, but kinda scary.

We're excited for this movie!

homemade pizza. Yummy! :)

Temple and cupcakes. Great Mix. I love to see the temple! :)

As you can see life is keeping us busy, but we are super happy with how things are going.  Some highlights: 1. We saw the new James Bond movie. As someone who is not a James Bond fan, I thought this movie was very well done and I really liked it. I felt like it had a lot more depth to it that most other Bond films tend to lack. I also loved the cinematography and the fact that I got to see beautiful London and Scotland again. 2. Also, I took my history Praxis test. I think it went pretty well. We'll see. I should know in a few weeks. 3. We bought our midnight showing tickets for The Hobbit. We'll be seeing it in IMAX 3D 48 FPS [naturally]. 4. Tyson loves Christmas so much that we have already started decorating our apartment. Yes, we have put up our little Christmas tree :)

We recently decided to rearrange our room. This change led to a lot more room in our bedroom that we didn't have before. This new change, along with the lack of space we have for all of our clothes, caused us to come to the conclusion that we needed some end tables and a new dresser. This merited a trip to the IKEA. I'm not sure if any of you watch 30 Rock, but there is an episode about IKEA and how it ruins relationships because couples fight when they go there. We have found this to be true. So we were happy when we came out of IKEA unscathed:

We lucked out and found end tables that had three drawers that were big enough to store our plethora of clothes. The only problem was that it was made of ugly wood. But we couldn't pass up the price! So we bought two, and made a stop at Home Depot and bought some awesome red paint! So we spent the rest of the night painting the dressers/end tables and putting them together. Here was the process/result:

I'm very happy with how it turned out! It was a fun project to work on together. 

we bought these cute lamps, too :)

I'll try to update again soon. Tyson and I are both so excited for Thanksgiving break and to spend time with our family! Until next time. 

Just Checking in....

For the past few weeks I have barely had any time to breathe...I'm just writing to tell you all that Tyson and I are still alive... I promise! I'll probably write an actual update after my Praxis has passed (Nov. 3rd).

 Until then, here are some pictures proving that we are still alive and that life is beautiful/good (although sometimes I forget amidst the 12 page papers, 4 midterms, hundreds of pages of readings, and Praxis studying):

Temple with my Mom! Love spending time with her at such a beautiful/peaceful place!

p.s. Mom I hope you aren't mad at me for posting these two pictures online! Haha. Love you :)

IF Temple with mi madre. So beautiful!

My baby kitty! I wish I could take you with me to live in Provo! Whenever I stay at my parents she always finds me to sleep on my bed. She's the best! You guys. I just really want a cat. Curse you apartment complex rules.

Lots of pretty sunsets lately!

Weight Watchers! Loving it so far!

Fall colors :)

Sunset after a huge rainstorm had passed

Parachute, All-American Rejects and Boys Like Girls concert with Katie! It was so fun catching up with her and reminiscing about London! Thanks for coming with me Katie!!! Let's play again soon :)

All-American Rejects. This guy was crazy. But sounded amazing!

Boys Like Girls! Sooo Good! It was like reliving my Senior year of high school all over again.

They sounded incredible. Also people at concerts are crazy. I always forget that. And I always forget how short I am until I realize I can't see no matter where I stand. Eh.

Pretty fall colors today. It snowed in the mountains, but the valley was still nice. I got to pull out my vintage boots, fleece tights, pea coat, silk scarf (thanks SueZann!) and vintage leather gloves (just bought on etsy!). I was so excited... and I'm sure I looked so classy in all black ;)

Fall colors

Just wanted to give you all a little update about the going ons of the Murray household. Life has been great. We are enjoying an already busy semester, but we wouldn't have it any other way. It's crazy to think that Tyson and I have almost been married an entire year! Our anniversary is just a few short weeks away. I can't believe where the time has gone. It has certainly been an adventure and I have loved every minute of it :)

So here are some updates through pictures:

Here are our nursery kids. As you can see there are a lot of them. But it's the best. Sadly, Tyson and I just got released. Yeah I don't want to talk about it. I'll really miss those kids.

Tyson's boss gave us tickets to the BYU vs Weber State football game. We had a really good time even though the game was pretty uneventful. What was eventful was the sunburns we both got. I had a huge blister on my shoulder for a week. It was great. Also, I'm still loving my fedora. 

I'm loving the weather change right now. One of my favorite things to wear are boots, tights, and sweaters. Nothing is more comfortable than that. Looking forward to these next few months.

I made these yummy kale chips last week. Even Tyson ate them. I guess I'm turning into a hippy or something. 

The weather is changing and that means the colors too! And that is why I love this time of year. Tyson and I went on a drive earlier today through Provo Canyon and on the Alpine Loop. It was gorgeous. The red vibrant colors were my favorite; it contrasted the green evergreens extremely well. Anyway, if you are in the Utah area I would suggest doing this drive. You'll never see anything prettier (or at least not for awhile). Utah is pretty. That's all.

Pretty Fall Colors:

I think I may have gotten Tyson hooked on Revenge. I started the pilot because I wanted to just re-watch it. I told him I thought he would like it. Now we are on episode 5.  Haha. I'm excited for all my TV shows to start this next week...

Also, if you haven't watched this Les Mis Preview you are missing out (Tyson and I have watched it about 2 times a day):

Also, I squealed with glee when this trailer came out this week. I am unbelievably excited for December. Happy tears:

Our Idaho visit according to pictures...

 We had lots of fun on our Idaho visit with the family. It took me awhile to finally get the pictures from Tyson's phone. But here they are: 

Let the craziness begin!

This summer went by way too fast! And now school has started again. But this year is different because.... it is our last year! Yay!! I'm done in December with classes and then do my student teaching January-April. Tyson will be done and April and then we will both be walking. I am so excited to be almost done and we are both looking forward to what the future holds for us!
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As you all know I had my huge capstone class this past summer term. I finished my paper (27 pages later) and I got an A in the class! I am so happy that all my hard work paid off! I put hours and hours into that paper and it feels nice to see it show. I'm really proud of myself for that accomplishment.

Right before turning in all the books I checked out for my paper. All those sticky notes were notes I had in the books I read. Crazy!!

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I've been wanting to donate my hair again for awhile. I finally found a spot free in my schedule to visit my awesome hair dresser, Carie. We had a good time catching up since my wedding (she did my hair for that) and cutting off my hair was exciting. I went in only expecting to cut off 8 inches, but my hair was much longer than I thought! We cut off 11 inches and I am super happy with my new hair.

I have also been into hats lately. Kinda weird. But I've been wanting to get a cute fedora for awhile. I finally found one at target and had to get it! I love wearing it and I always get lots of compliments. I guess it was a good purchase! :)
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As mentioned in my previous post we were car shopping and we finally bought one! We got a 2008 Nissan Altima with a little over 30,000 miles on it. We love it so far and it is in great condition! Tyson is in love with this car :) I think his favorite part is the push start button (it's keyless!). We are super happy with our purchase. Some of you may know--but within 24 hours after buying this car we hit a baby deer. I know! Bad luck. But it didn't do as much damage as it could have done. We are very blessed that it was not much worse. I am thankful every day for those who are watching over us! Needless to say I was traumatized, and I cried because our brand new car was now dented, but mostly because I killed a baby deer that was just trying to follow it's family across the road. Sigh. Oh life. Well, besides that little mishap we are doing fine and the car is great besides a minor dent in the hood.
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My parents gave us some eggs from their chickens. I thought it was cool because 2 of their chickens lay green/blue eggs! Crazy!
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Sometimes I get so wrapped up in how crazy life is, that I forget to look at the beauty that surrounds me. Utah is seriously beautiful. I love all the mountains and the colors. I took this picture walking home from work one day and I really am just amazed at the beauty of where I live.
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This is the Brigham City Tabernacle

Tyson and I had the opportunity to go to the Brigham City Temple open house this weekend with our great friends, Jesse and Bekah. The temple was gorgeous! I loved all the peach flowers that was incorporated all through out the temple. We had such a great time visiting. If you have the opportunity to go, you should! I am so grateful for the temple and the blessings and promises that come because of it. I know that families are forever and that Tyson and I can be together forever because of the temple. What a great blessing! One of my favorite parts of this experience was watching the video beforehand and listening to the thoughts of Elder Holland---Heaven would not be Heaven without our families and the temple helps us with that. What a great blessing!

After our stop at the temple we looked at the Brigham City tabernacle and then we stopped at Maddox for lunch. Tyson and Jesse tried the bison/buffalo burger. They are much braver than me! I just got a regular cheese burger. But we did have some yummy fresh peach shakes! Thanks for coming with us Jesse and Bekah!
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To make our Saturday even better I was able to stop at the London Market and Salt Lake City. I got to stock up on my yummy British chocolate :) Now I just need to make sure I do not eat all of these in one sitting! Haha.
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Our family came to visit last weekend. We went home to Idaho right before school started. All of Tyson's side of the family was there. We got to spend time with all of the siblings and nieces and nephew. We both had so much fun getting to spend time with everyone. I'm sad that I didn't take pictures! I don't know what I was thinking. I'll have to steal some from Seleta or Nicolette. It was so nice getting to know everyone a little bit more. I really enjoyed my time with them and I know that Tyson loved seeing everyone again. Hopefully it will not be too long before we see everyone again.
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School will be good this semester, but super busy! I'm taking a bunch of my English teaching classes and Tyson is only taking two classes so he can continue to work full time. Life is good for us and we are really enjoying the journey. One of my goals for this semester is to keep on blogging. So I'll try the best that I can!