Proud Moment!

So we did it! Well I guess I should say Brad did it. He finally graduated on friday and it was such an exciting thing for us. He really didn't want to walk at graduation but I made him because it is kind of a big deal and he totally deserved some recognition. I think that now he is glad he did because it made it more real for both of us. It felt like he had actually finished school not just another semester. The graduation itself was long and boring. One of the speakers spoke for seriously like 30 minutes but oh well they eventually got to giving the degrees to everyone! I am really bummed because I didn't even get a pic of Brad up there getting his degree because I was too dang excited and all I could think to do was cheer for my Brad! I really am so proud of him. He has worked SO hard. These last couple semesters have been really crazy for him with work and church stuff but we were looking at his transcript and these were two of his best semesters. He seriously amazes me and I am so grateful that he works so hard for our little family. We are also so grateful to our parents for the support that they have been. My sister Bethany even came with her 3 kids and sat through graduation- we are just so grateful for everyones suport! We really have the best family!

Brad's Sister Michelle also graduated on Friday. She got her degree in Elementary Education and I think she is going to be such a fun teacher! Congrats again Michelle- way to go!

My cute hubby!
Brad and his siter Michelle- way to go guys!

Another one bites the dust!!!

So life is slowly starting to get back to normal here (whatever normal is?!). I took both of my finals yesterday and now I am done! yay! I don't really know how I did on them and it is so frustrating that I have to wait so long to find out, but oh well. My house has been out of control lately because we have both been so busy studying. I honestly can't even remember the last time I cooked a real meal or did more than the neccesities for laundry. Poor Brad has been so neglected but he has been so busy I don't think that he has even had time to notice:). He still has one more paper and one last exam and then he will be done for good- woot woot! He graduates in 3 days- i am so excited! So last night while he was studying I got to work on the house and I don't know if I have ever been so excited to clean my house. That is pretty sad but I am so grateful to be done and to have a little more time for the next couple of weeks. I am also so excited to be able to enjoy the Christmas season a little more. It hasn't really felt like christmas yet but now that I am done I think that I will be able to get a little more into it. Thank you for indulging me in my excitement a little, it just feels so good to be done and I have to celebrate it! I hope that everyone is having a very Merry Christmas season especially now that there is some snow:)

Happy December!

So Carly had this on her blog and I thought it was way fun- I just really, really love this time of year!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? depends on what I am wrapping- I sort of go overkill on buying wrapping paper- I propbably have ten rolls of just christmas paper!
2. Real tree or Artificial? I always swore that I would never have an artificial tree but last year my sister gave us a really nice tree and it was free so that is what we use. It is acutally really pretty and at least we don't have to worry about watering it!
3. When do you put up the tree? We put it up the day after thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? usually on new years day or whenever I get around to it.
5. Do you like eggnog? Not really but I always think I have to drink some to be festive- as long as it has some 7up in it I can handle it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? probably my american girl doll.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Brad's dad.
8. Easiest person to buy for? any of my sisters or my mom.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes- Brad got me the willow tree one when we were engaged and last year he got me the shepard animals- we will see if I get anything to go with it this year")

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? um- am I supposed to do that?
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really think of one.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Hands down it is Elf it is sort of a tradition for us to watch together- we both just laugh the whole time.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?This year I was pretty proud of myself, I started in like october and I am pretty much done now.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Don't think so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cardamom rolls, petit fors, potato sausage- my list could go on and on.
16. Lights on the tree? lots and lots of white ones!
17. Favorite Christmas song? Really I just love christmas music. My favorite cd's are peter breinholt, sarah mclachlan, james taylor and forgotten carols( i know, i'm a nerd but i grew up listening to it)
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? maybe- bet definitely not in order.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Snowflake actually
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas eve at my mom's but everything else on christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Definitely finals and this year I am going to be very excited for tithing settlements to be over with too.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Snowflakes- I am sort of obsessed with snowflakes but brad is so cute because he is always finding all sorts of cute snowflake things for me.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I think we always have a ham for christmas dinner but on christmas eve my mom does a swedish smorgasboard and it is definitely the favorite meal of the year!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I can't tell because then Brad would know and he has to figure it out on his own:)

Happy Birthday Mom!

So today is my mom's birthday and I am so excited! I just love her so much and I love when we get to celebrate her birthday because she so deserves to be celebrated! My mom is such an incredible woman and I am always amazed by her strength. She has been through so much in her life and she has always stayed so strong. I am so grateful for the example that she has always been to me and for the way that she has always been there for me. She is seriously one of my best friends and I love being able to spend time with her. On friday we went down to Ikea and I had so much fun just being with her and talking to her. Sometimes I feel like I must talk her ear off but she never says anything. She is such a great listener. I really am just so grateful for the relationship that we have and for all that she does for me. She is always so patient to answer my sometimes daily questions about recipes or laundry or whatever. And she is always so willing to help wherever- like when she rushed down at 10:00 at night to help me clean up a half a gallon of paint:). I could really go on and on about how amazing of a woman she is and how grateful I am for her. I don't know what I would do without my wonderful mom. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

When green is all there is to be...

So this one has been a long time coming. I have been wanting to paint our bedroom since we moved in but kept on putting it off for various reasons. Well a couple of weekends ago I had the whole weekend off and I just decided I was going to do it. So i went to Lowes and picked up the paint and everything I would need ( it felt like I was buying the whole store). I came home and got to work. So by Saturday things were going very smoothly Brad was helping me and we were almost done. So I went to get a little more paint and as I am doing so I knock the whole can of paint over and it sort of went flying down to the ground. Needless to say we had paint EVERYWHERE! It was all over the carpet, our bed, our armoire- everywhere. So I just start freaking out and Brad rushes over and we start cleaning it up. After a couple of minutes of what seemed like useless trying, Brad suggested that I call my mom and see if she had any ideas of how to clean it up. So I called her and my cute parents came down with cleaners and steamers and towels galore. We somehow managed to get it all out of the carpet so then it was just the furniture we had to worry about. We tried a couple of things but with no avail and I was resorting to the fact that I would probably have to repaint the furniture. Then my mom had this brilliant idea and she asked me if I had any magic erasers and I said YES! I bought those puppies when we very first got married but have never needed to use them. So I ran downstairs and grabbed them and what do you know- they took the paint right off of our armoire, so then we went to work on the bed and it totally cleaned it off. It was like a miracle. You can't even tell anything happened. Brad thinks we need to write a letter to Mr. Clean and tell him how incredible those things are.

So by the time we were finished dealing with that it was like 11:00 and so we decided to just be done for the night and then it was Sunday so we didn't paint and then our crazy week started all over again. So I just finished up painting this past weekend and Brad was so excited to have our room back. I am really happy with how it turned out. I just love color and it makes it so much cozier in there. (sorry i know that was really bad grammar!)


So here are some pics of the finished product.

See- no paint on the furniture!!!

Well that has been most of the excitement around here for us. We are both just REALLY looking forward to the end of the semester. Especially since this is Brad's last one! He graduates in 31 days- yippee!

Truly prophetic counsel...

I have seen this on a couple other blogs and it is just such a testimony to me that we are truly led by prophets who are so aware of the things that we may have to face.
This is an excerpt from a talk given by Neal A. Maxwell on Oct. 10, 1978 but it just seems so fitting for today: (if you click on the title of this post it will link you to read this entire talk- which I would highly recommend)

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ.....concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell

With everything going on right now it is so comforting to know that we are led by men of God and if we follow their counsel we will be led in the right direction.