End of the Semester

Currently, Tyson and I are watching The Dark Knight Rises [naturally], but I thought I could do a little multi-tasking since this is like the bazillionth time I've watched this incredible movie. Anyway....

This semester went by faster than I ever imagined it would--almost in the 'blink of an eye' as some would say. In a few short weeks I will be starting the next chapter of my life--student teaching [I got my placement: teaching History and English, 8th grade at Centennial Middle School]. By the end of next semester I will be graduating, looking for a teaching job and starting 'real life.' It's crazy to think that my college experience is almost done. After being in school since Kindergarten, I'm not really sure what life will be like, but I'm excited to find out!

Tyson also will be done after next semester. He has 2 psychology classes and will continue working full time [which he loves!]. We are both excited for what the future will bring.

We had a great Thanksgiving break spending time with family. We were happy that Sarah, Ben and baby Teancum made it to Pocatello and had a good time spending time with them. Baby Teancum is such a good and happy baby and we both loved getting to cuddle and hold him (and we love his hair!). We had a lot of fun at the Ranch in Swan Valley and enjoyed the food, the laughs and the good conversations! We are grateful for all the love and support of all our family and wish we could spend more time with all of you.

The beautiful Snake River by the Ranch

Sleepy Teancum

I haven't talked about this much, but some of you know one of my best friends passed away a few weeks ago. Her funeral was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was able to sing at her funeral, along with some of her other good friends, and other Poky High School choir members. It was a very touching experience and a great tribute to a great friend.  She got into a terrible car accident and didn't make it. To say that I was devastated would be a serious understatement. It is so hard losing such a good friend and someone so young. I will always remember Chelsea coming over to my house for sleepovers and for long chats about anything and everything. Or going to her house to help her clean her room while eating candy, talking, and joking around. I think I'll miss our talks the most. Chelsea had a way about her--she could always make you feel loved, and when you were with her you felt like the most important person in the world. She cared deeply and loved deeply and I'll miss her.  And even though her time on this earth was short, she made an important difference in my life and countless others.

Me, Chelsea, Kim

After I heard about Chelsea's passing I kept on thinking of this part [the finale] from Les Miserables [see attached video]. Especially these lines:

FANTINE:
Come with me
Where chains will never bind you
All your grief
At last, at last behind you
Lord in heaven; 
Look down on him in mercy

VALJEAN:
Forgive me all my trespases and take me to your glory

FANTINE, VALJEAN AND EPONINE:
Take my hand
And lead me to salvation
Take my love
For love is everlasting
And remember
The truth that once was spoken:
To love another person is to see the face of god

Chelsea truly made me feel loved and I'll be forever grateful for her friendship. I love you Chelsea, you will be missed. It's hard to say goodbye, but I know you are doing great things on the other side. Until we meet again, my friend.
_______________________________________________________________

On another note, I though I would give you our current updates.

Currently: We saw The Hobbit at the midnight showing this passed Thursday night. Although it may have been foolish since I had a final at 8:30 am the next morning, I could not have passed up this opportunity. Plus, Diet Coke was made to get me through this circumstance anyway. Needless to say, The Hobbit was awesome. Still not sure how I felt about the high speed rate [48 frames/second], but Tyson liked it. The scenery was gorgeous, the music was awesome and I gotta say Martin Freeman did an incredible job as Bilbo. My favorite scene was hands down 'Riddles in the Dark.' Andy Serkis did a great job with Gollum [of course!] and I just could not wipe the smile off my face. I just loved it. Also, my overwhelming desire to visit New Zealand has been reawakened. I think Tyson and I will leave tomorrow [I wish!!!!]. Go see it. You won't regret it.

Our Hobbit Tickets--the information was too long to actually have the title on the ticket.

Currently: Making these delicious Nutella stuffed cookies. They are the best cookies ever. Please follow this recipe and make them yourself:
[http://martylovesash.blogspot.com/2012/11/nutella-stuffed-cookies-yes-i-just-said.html].
You won't regret it. Promise.

Currently: Enjoying these beautiful sunsets [though they come early] and dare I say it--the snow? Yikes. Never thought I'd say that.

Currently: Loving this t.v. show

Currently: Celebrating the end of a successful semester

Martinelli's, Pizza, and Home Alone.

Excited to watch these over break.

Best Friends--Celebrating Kim's impending marriage [which happened yesterday! Congrats Kimberly!]

Currently: Getting called to Sunbeams [me!] and primary pianist [Tyson!]

Currently: We are loving life and happy!

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 ;)