Snowmobiling. My new Addiction

So I accidentally deleted this post so I have to write it again. It goes between the post about our first vacation and my birthday surprise.

Brad's family is way into snowmobiling and this is the second time I have gotten to go. We went to Island Park here in Idaho and it is about an hour away from Rexburg. It is a ton of fun. Since Brad and I were still in school, we went for the weekend and stayed with the family in a little cabin. The rest of the family got to stay for about a week. Brad and I had so much fun that the next Wednesday we skipped class and went back for the day. I hope to continue to get good enough that I will be able to go on some of the more advanced rides next year. Or maybe the next after that. We even got to have an up close and personal experience with a mad mamma moose that was separated from her baby. I had to jump of my machine because it looked like she was going to ram it and Brad almost got to pet her back as she fell right next to his. But in the end, everyone came out with a good story and no broken limbs.   

 These are some huge trees that are just pilled with snow. A very fun ride all the way up to the top of a mountain.

 I never seem to pick the activities or sports where one is given the opportunity to look attractive.

 Thumbs up for a great ride

 This is a river where you can feed these huge fish. We made the trip and I was so frozen that I couldn't even attempt to break bread apart for the fish so Brad just took pictures and I just watched the fish swim around expectantly. It was almost funny to see them thinking I was going to feed them and then for me to taunt them with the fact that I had no food.

 If I was a midget, I would live here. It is this little cabin looking house that we don't know why it is there but it was cute and little and I had to have a picture of it.

 I think I might really like this kid.

 Me attempting to smile for the picture but then I realized you can't see my face.

 Me getting my big head out of the way so you can see the river. I was so cold I couldn't even take my helmet off.

The moon was just beautiful. We got back from a ride right as the moon was starting to come up. I love snowmobiling and can't wait to go again.

The odd little things that make life grand.

I love the randomness of married life. We have so much fun together and the camera really needs to come out more often. In fact, I want to try to start taking more pictures. I have the hardest time remembering to bring the camera and when I do, either Brad or I decides we don't want to take pictures. I think both of us are just going to have to such it up and say cheese. 

Last semester, as I have mentioned before, was one of the hardest and busiest semesters of my life. I did nothing but homework and would fall into bed at the end of a very long day that usually started somewhere around 5am and ended at like 10-12pm. Brad was the biggest support I could ever ask for. He didn't have as big a homework load as I had, But his classes were very hard and he had an on campus job that started about 7:00am so both of us were working our tails off. But not only would Brad come home and help me with my Chemistry, but almost every night he would make dinner and do the dishes too. He was a true champ.     

 This is an apron that one of my good friends made me for a wedding gift. There is a matching guy one that doesn't have the ruffles but I think this one was on top or maybe I just thought it would be funnier to make him wear this one.

 I know, terrible picture of me but this is how I looked all last semester. Sitting on the couch with tons of homework and books around me. So glad I will be graduating soon and can take a break from studying so much. (Sorry mom, I really am working on my posture. Just not when I am sitting, or standing, or thinking, or breathing. But other than that, I'm doing pretty good.)

 One of the Sundays of that dreadful semester, we decided that it would be fun to walk through the little nature park that we live close to. This was one of those times when I wanted to take pictures and Brad didn't want to have anything to do with the camera. So naturally I convinced him to take some pictures with me but it all ended up us making funny faces because by the time picture taking actually got started, both of us were already tired of the idea. But I'm kinda stubborn (family trait) so I made sure that no matter how awful they turned out, there would be pictures taken.

 An attempt at a somewhat nice picture but the sun was too bright and we were both cold and wanted to go home.

 HUNGER GAMES!!!!! I am a fan of the books and was so excited to see the movie. Well it was sold out for miles except for one showing at like 10:00am and seats right in the front. By the time Brad and I noticed that there were still seats available in that showing, it was like 9:45am and we had just gotten up for the day. (Don't worry, it was a Saturday so we didn't skip any classes). So we jumped up, brushed our teeth quick and left. I happen to be wearing his sweatshirt and neither one of us had showered yet that day. It was so fun to make a last minute decision like that and run with it. We both loved the movie and can't wait to own it when it comes out.

 So this is now caught up to this semester (Summer 2012). We were able to both bring our bikes to school and that has been the major mode of transportation for us. Now that Brad has a job and needs the car, it is the only mode of transportation that I have. I have to bike to campus and try to get there in time for a van that goes out to the livestock center. If I miss the van, I miss class. I must also add that we always wear our helmets when biking (thanks Allen for teaching us).

 Just workin' on our health and vitality.

 Brad trying out a new style. I'm not such a huge fan so it didn't last long.

Well, the world is all caught up on the Mousley family for right now anyway. I will continue to try and be better at updating and taking pictures. Actually, one more really fun thing has happened. Brad and I were able to get tickets to see Diamond Rio. The pianist is a member so they came to the school to do a show. We didn't know that you could take pictures or else we would have brought the camera. It was a great show and tons of fun. The band tried to get as many songs in as they could in the short amount of time that they had. The son's of the pianist are in a duet together and they were the opening act. I guess they have opened for people like Kelly Clarkson so they were pretty good. All in all, a very fun night.  

A Wonderful Birthday Surprise!

I really am the luckiest girl in the world. So Brad and I were home for my birthday and for a while I guess he has been hinting at what he was going to get me. I never once guessed because I'm thick like that. Well he got up early one morning and ran into town and came back with a brand new, sparkling, hallelujah inspired orange little I-pod. Like the kind you run with. I love it. But I didn't know that the best part of my birthday would have to wait until we got back from being home. You see, Brad and I have had a favorite song together since we were dating (one of many). So when we got back into town, I got sent to my room and had to stay there for a while. Once I was finally told I could come out, I came out to a nice dinner and our song playing. We danced in the kitchen and then I was starving so we snarfed our food. What was really cute about all of this is the fact that Brad was re-creating that song for us. The song is by Darius Rucker and is called "All right". It is all about how the guy doesn't need anything fancy, he just needs the woman he loves. (in case you are wondering, Brad was playing the guy and I was the woman he loves.) I guess Brad has been wanting to do this date for a very long time. Like since before we were married and possibly before we were even engaged. He can't remember.   

 In one part of the song, he says that he doesn't need a fancy 5 star reservation but that homemade spaghetti and a cheep bottle of wine was all he needed. Well since we try to obey the Word of Wisdom in this household, we just had sparkling cider. We didn't get a picture of this but after a couple of minutes, Brad pulled up Youtube videos of Patsy Cline (which we had both never even heard of) because in the song he talks about how all he needed was a cheep stereo and the best of Patsy Cline.  

 All the candles were aglow and our plant that neither one of us water, or have watered since like Christmas. We seem to have a talent for not taking care of stuff and they just wont die. It is probably because we are so cool, all the plants want to stick around.

 Love him so much!

Sorry it is so fuzzy, but I thought it was such a cute picture, or maybe such a cute idea of a picture since you can't really see anything, that I just had to add it.

Well for the rest of the night, we went to the river and sat out by the bank side and tried to look at the stars. It was cloudy so we couldn't see much. I then started to get a little bit spooked (which Brad capitalized on) because I was just convinced that hobos were living near the water. And then all the fish started jumping and I just knew a bear would come for dinner so we decided to get out of there before we became dinner to either a hungry bear or a crazy hobo.     

Our First Vacation

So I had never been to temple square during Christmas time, I know, not very Mormon of me, but I had always wanted to go so Brad and I decided to have our very first vacation together, ever. It was a blast and one of our favorite memories so far.  

 

 Us on our way to Utah lookin' good in our sunglasses

 We took this right when we got there. It was SO cold.

 The lights were so incredibly beautiful I could hardly stand it. We have a ton of pictures and I could hardly narrow it down to these ones.

 Snow art. Sappy, I know, but we had just gotten married. Can you even blame us?

 They had hundreds of these little brown bags with different designs on them. So cool. And it must have taken a ton of time to do all of them.

 In the Joseph Smith building with this incredible tree

 They had all of these little nativities from all over the world. So fun and it was fun to see all of the different interpretations of the nativity.

 Cool picture that Brad took. Love the tree behind us.

 This was in the conference center and they were just taking down the decorations for a program that they had had there. We also got there just in time for someone to get on the organ and start playing Christmas music. 

 Thinking of getting a new mattress. Straw is not my first choice.

We found this cool cathedral and had to stop and take a look around. We even got to go inside and see all of the paintings and art inside. Really cool and fun.

We had so much fun. We got to not only be on Temple square with all of the lights, but we got to walk around the next day and go to all of the church buildings and just spend time together. Not bad for a first vacation. Can't wait to go on our next. 

The Christmas Tree

So I couldn't possibly feel right with myself or the world if I did not dedicate a whole post to our faithful little Christmas tree. You see, Brad and I knew that we would be going home for Christmas but both of us are Christmas junkies and couldn't stand the thought of not having our very own Christmas tree. So right before we went home, we decided to pick this little beauty up from the side of the local grocery store and give it a nice little home. Mind you this was like a week before Christmas and the tree probably had been cut down in like mid July because it would seem that most Christmas tree harvesters think that the tree needs to be good and dry before you ever even get the chance to put it up, and further dehydrate the poor thing. But anyway, I digress from the story. So this little tree came to reside in our home and we dried some oranges and made ornaments out of them and budgeted in some cute little Christmas lights and some candy canes. We even had a couple or ornaments from our wedding that we adorned our fine little tree with. Brad had to put me on a Christmas decorating budget because he was the only one with good enough sense to know that the two of us would end up buying out the stores of all Christmas decor and would have to probably eat the stockings and tree skirt in a stew in order to survive the next few months. But anyway, this tree not only lasted until we got back from our Christmas vacation in Montana, but continued to survive until about the beginning or middle of March with little to no watering. We kept waiting for the tree to get crispy enough that we didn't feel bad about throwing it out, and it kept lasting and lasting. We honestly considered making Easter decorations for it. Finally we decided enough was enough and even though the bottom of the tree was still supple and fresh, the top was getting a little crispy and we really wanted to use (for the first time) the coat closet that the tree was hiding.

Here is the beloved tree. Now you really can't see any candy canes on it but it could be the picture or more than likely I had eaten them all at this point. One of my Christmas weaknesses.

The day we finally took the tree out. We hadn't watered it for like a month or two and as you can see, it really doesn't look as bad as you would have thought.
We got the funniest look from one of the other tenants when she saw us taking out our Christmas tree in March. We almost felt like we needed to apologize to her for having a tree so late into the year.

Brad sad that we have to let it go. Actually, I think both of us were really ready to see it go but we still had to take a "sad" picture.

Finally, a Break.

I know there has been many of you that have been tempted to leave my blog in the dust thinking that I would NEVER write on it again. In fact, I am one of those people. BUT, due to the pestering...oh I mean encouragement, that some of my most faithful readers have given me, I am going to take another stab at informing you all of my every move. I think the problem is that I am far too humble of a person to really get too involved in something other than feeding the hungry or healing the sick. In fact, after reading my scriptures and praying for hours and serving everyone around me, I hardly have any time left over in the day. And usually what I do with that spare time is I read to sick children in the hospital and donate huge amounts of cold hard cash to a charity for old persons needing diapers. HA! just kidding. But both Brad and I have been very busy this last semester. That last semester will go down in history for the semester where I would sit at our kitchen table from 12:30 in the afternoon to about 10:00 or 11:00pm doing nothing but homework and still not be done when I would finally give in to my carnal woman and go to sleep. While Brad didn't have quite that amount of homework, he was holding down a good job and taking some really hard classes. He did wonderful and even made time to help me with my chemistry. (Chemistry is one of those classes that takes all of the things I am no good at and I hate in academics and puts it into one nice neat little package. Needless to say, Brad helped me quite a bit). It really was one of the longest, hardest and most time consuming semesters of my life but it all turned out well. Now, on to my last semester. But during this all consuming semester, Brad and I got to do some really fun things.

Subtle Hints

So after a few little tiny itty bitty hints from my mom and a few others, I have decided that maybe this whole blog thing isn't just a one time deal. I have thought long and hard about what my readers may want. And then like a lightening bolt, it hit me. They might like it if i updated this at least once. I mean, as entertaining as reading the same first post over and over again, and staring at vomit inducing 70's orange patterns is, they might like another dip into my ever happinin' life and charming witty exchanges. Some might feel to classify my dialog as obnoxious, but me and my family choose to call it witty banter. But seeing as all that Brad and I are doing right now is homework, and lots of it, I decided rather than just taking pictures of the mess of books that is taking over our living room, I might take you all for a ride to the past. Now a quick warning to those chronological junkies. Brad is in class and I don't know how to get pictures from his camera to my computer. So all I have to work with is the pictures already on my computer. What this means is that they will be out of order and possibly not very good pictures. I was given a camera from a good friend, and, while this is better than nothing, you might get the same effect from stick figure drawings. But forge on we must. I will also try really hard to remember to take pictures whenever Brad and I are not stuck with our noses in books or sleeping. Although, it might be fun to take pictures of Brad while he is sleeping, but since I committed my eternity to him, I think I should probably be nice.

So one day, before Brad and I got married, We decided that we really needed to spend some time together, working out the details of our relationship and our future life together, and the only time that would work was during all of our classes. Sorry mom, please don't read on. So we skipped all of our classes and went out to breakfast in Idaho Falls and then found a really neat Haloween store that even had a section just for adults. And, seeing as both of us are over 18, we wandered strait there. Don't worry, there was nothing bad, just costumes sized for adults.

Please note blade size difference. I win.

And then we were happy.