I've Been Dying to Blog! Here Are Updates :)

Oh my goodness I don't even know where to start I am so far behind! Things have been super busy. I am totally behind in homework and that is what I should be doing right now...but I really am dying to blog. Not only for you guys, my loyal readers hehe, but also for myself because it is kind of like my journal.

Tuesday, January 20
I threw a bridal shower for my friend Shantell. She married one of my best guy friends from college, Mike Bullock. I am not one of her bridesmaids or anything but it was an honor to throw the party for her. I think bridal showers really make a bride feel special. Throwing the party reminded me of my bridal shower. It is SO awesome to have so many girlfriends come to celebrate with you. When I had like 20 of my friends there it just reminded me how many great friends I have made. I value friendships and relationships I have with other people so much.

Anyway, I delegated food and desserts but got party prizes and decorations myself. I planned some fun games and I think it turned out really great! Mike was telling me that she couldn't stop talking about it and the really loved it. Yay! I love making other people happy. It is the most rewarding thing in the world.


Group Picutre! I had to set the timer and run in, haha. Oh by the way I cut like 5 or 6 inches off my hair. I'm still getting use to it.


This is how I set up. Moved the chairs, baloons, etc.


The candles were the prizes for the games (dollar store and super cute). Then I got her a cute pink sash you'll see on her in a second.



She had to chew a piece of gum every time she got some fact about Mike wrong. We did that at my shower and it was fun.

Saturday, January 24
Mike and Shantell got married in the Timpanogos Temple. It was SO awesome to go see a sealing, you hear a lot more when you aren't the one being sealed haha. The Provo Temple President, President Bateman, sealed them. He is so funny. One of the stories he told was about learning how to compromise. He talked about how he and his wife had completely different Christmas traditions. His family had always gone to bed at 10PM, woken up every two hours until finally his parents would let them get up at 6AM. Then they would all rush down stairs, rip their gifts open, and Christmas was done by 6:30AM. His wife's family would go to bed at 9PM, wake up 6AM, brush their teeth, then go downstairs. Then they would have a family prayer, eat breakfast together, go back up stairs and brush their teeth again. Then they would line up oldest to youngest. Their father would go in the room with the tree before everyone else so he could have the camera ready. Then they would walk in in order and were handed their gifts one by one and take pictures with each gift until they had gone through all of them. President Bateman said that when they got married they had to learn to compromise...so the kids DID go to bed at 9PM. They DID wake up at 6AM. They DID brush their teeth, then come downstairs for family prayer. Then they DID eat breakfast together and go back upstairs to brush their teeth. Then they DID line up from oldest to youngest and waited while dad went in the other room first...you get the point? They did Christmas HER WAY! That was how they compromised! hahaha. Kory and I were dying laughing when he was telling that story. So was everyone else in the sealing.

Here are Mike and Shantell Bullock.



Later that day we got go to Ivie's baptism (Uncle Lorrin's daughter). It was so cute to see her and be able to witness two covenants being made in one day. The blessings of baptism and eternal marriage are both so amazing. I know without a doubt that our Heavenly Father has created a plan of salvation and a plan of happiness so that we can be with our families forever and return to live with Him again. If you want to know more visit this website. Here are pics!



Saturday night we got some bar stools for FREE! And then we came home to find our super duper amazing vacuum was there! Yay! We absolutely love it. This is my celebratory picture haha.


Sunday, January 25
Kory and I had the wonderful opportunity to speak in our church sacrament meeting! We both spoke on the power of prayer, and ways that you can make your prayer more meaningful. We really enjoyed being able to speak in church.

Tuesday, January 27
My really good family friends the Ellsworths were in town! Heethe was entering the MTC on Wednesday. So I got to go meet them at Johnny Corinos to celebrate. I LOVE the Ellsworths with all of my heart. They are like my extra 6 little brothers. I didn't get any pics with the Riley, sad! But here are pics with Heethe, Cindy, Levi and Dallas, then Heethe and Brady, then Beau and me.






Friday, January 30
I got to go to a study abroad 2008 reunion sleepover (with just the girls of course)! It was so fun! We went to a cabin, at Sundance ski resort, in a gated cabin community! Can you believe that! The cabin was absolutely beautiful. I was sad Kory didn't get to go. We had SO much fun catching up with everyone. It was absolutely beautiful out too! I felt so lucky to be able to go.











And...HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYANN! My best friend in California's little girl turned 4! (The day before he Mom's birhtday). She is on the right, and her little sister Reagan is on the left.

This picture is a year old from the last time I was in Palm Springs, but I love it!



Saturday, January 31
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENI!!! Jeni has been my best friend since senior year of high school when we met in summer school (we were both over-achievers haha). We were brought together and then were never found apart. We went to different high schools, but we still visited each other during lunch and still did sleepovers on the weekdays haha. Jeni is one of those people that I strive to be more like. She is an amazing friend, wife, and mother. I hope that I am half the wife and mother that she is. It has been an absolute joy to watch her over the years. I am so grateful that I have been able to go to California to see them as often as possible, and even run into them in Hawaii a few times. Jeni was one of my bridesmaids, she and her husband Hugh drove all the way up from Palm Springs to be there. I hope I get to see them again soon! I love you Jeni! This is the last time I was in Palm Springs with Jeni left and Karly Jo on the right.


We also got to go to the Jon Schmidt concert at BYU on Saturday night. That was so fun! We met up with a couple in our ward and apartment complex. We've been trying to really get to know the people in our ward. We have so many cool people to be friends with at church! The concert was amazing. We don't have any pictures. But maybe this sound clip will work? This is a sound clip of Jason Black, one of Kory's mission buddies, spoofing some of Jon Schmidt's songs. He is also an incredible pianist. I hope you guys get to hear it. Sound clip doesn't work, sorry!

Sunday, February 1
SUPERBOWL SUNDAY! We went to church, of course. Then later we went to our friends' house. They are in our ward, but they are also from Boise! I went to high school with Mallory and Logan Brown. Deena and Zach Taylor were also there. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and hang out. They are all so awesome. I wish we were able to have get-togethers more often! Boise people are such cool people :) Seriously, married couple parties are fun too. It is just so awesome that your friends are my firends and we always have each other.

Tuesday, February 3
I swear I have been writing this blog for like an hour or something! Things are going well so far this week. I have so much to catch up on, but I needed a little break to do something I love.

Shopping and Car Show

First of all, I talked to Sadie and she was wondering what the TV stand we got for $10 looks like. So here is a pic Sadie! :)



This week has been a lot of fun. I am starting to really like my classes. I went and spoke to a counselor and I am going to be graduating officially in August yay! But I only have 4 credits to take after this semester so I'm just going to go to school spring term. In one of my classes, the American West, we get points for participating in class. She doesn't know all of our names so she has us use the start system. If we participate in the class discussion then she has us put a start by our name. If we lead the class discussion she has us put two stars by our name. If we lead the class discussion really well them we get three stars and she'll give us a candy bar. On Friday I got three stars and a candy bar, and it really make me feel pretty awesome! I've told my self that I am going to get straight A's this semester, so far I am feeling pretty good about it.

Kory is doing well. He really jumped right into the semester. Things are insane for him, he has class and work every day from 8AM-8PM. He is working more this semester so that we can be independent adults and enjoy the benefits of our work. I am so proud of him for all that he does for us.

My parents were in town this weekend so we were able to do some things for fun on Saturday. Mom, Kory and I went up to the outlet mall in Park City and took 3 hours to find great prices on some cute clothes that fit me well and make me feel good. I strongly dislike shopping. I would not have survived if I did not have my dear sweet husband and mother helping me so much! I am extremely grateful that I was able to get some things that I really needed. It really meant so much to me to be able to do that.

After Park City we headed back to meet up with Dad. Then we went to the car show that they were having at the South Towne Expo. We had a lot of fun at that. It was a good bonding thing for Dad and Kory, haha. All of the hottest 2009 cars from most every make and model were there. We saw Lynda's future car, and some that Kory has been dreaming about also. I didn't take too many pictures but here are a few. Unfortunately, none of them are of Kory's favorites. The first one is of Lynda's dream car. Mind you that all of these were taken with my cell phone and not always the best angles.









After the car show the four of us got to go out to eat at the Cheescake Factory! What a treat :) As all of you know, I LOVE seeing family and spending time with them. It is always especially a treat to see Mom and Dad.

Craigslist

Celeste inspired me to blog about our most recent steal of a deal.

We have a nook in our family room that one of our beautiful picture hangs but it is really designed for a TV stand also. So Kory was determined to find something that was a great deal that fit the description of what I wanted also. He did a really good job paying attention to every little thing I said that I liked and disliked. Well one night he found an IKEA TV stand and two end cabinets on Craigslist that someone was selling for $40. Kory emailed them right away (didn't tell me about it) and the next day they contacted him. Then he told me about them, of course I wasn't thrilled because I didn't want to spend money on something we didn't desperately need. But it was a great deal, he felt good about it, so I gave him the go-ahead.

When he was on his way over there they called him and said they didn't want to sell them anymore because they were losing so much money on them. So Kory offered $50 (which also totally annoyed me). They called him back and agreed and he went to pick them up.

Anyway, the next day when Kory had brought all 3 pieces of furniture in the house and I saw then I was so sad...I thought that they were so ugly! Well the TV stand wasn't bad but the end tables really bothered me. So I proposed that we put the cabinets on Craigslist and Kory agreed.

I put the cabinets on Craiglist for $40 together. I had tons of inquiries later I was thinking that we should have put them on for $50! Nonetheless, we sold them right away for $40...which made our IKEA $100 something TV stand (that I have totally warmed up to) cost us only $10! HA! Isn't that awesome!? Notice that one cabinet's shelf is set too high, they are that ugly light brown lack. But I was able to make them look pretty good!





Kory and I were both very proud and excited last night. Kory I am sorry that I fussed about it, thank you for working so hard to find something that works great for us. We love our TV stand that fits in our nook. It really inspired me to start a buy and sell furniture business on Craigslist, seriously! If you live in Provo...DON'T STEAL MY IDEA! haha jk :)

Some Great Finds

One of my really good family friends Ashley has had her own business making the cutest knit hats for years. She is so talented! I recommend everyone in a cold destination check them out! Ashley is very fashionable. Click on Mutze Handknit by Ashley.

Kelli and Carissa you guys totally need to enter in the drawing to win the super cute knit set for your beautiful baby girls. Sadie you should go enter, too. Go to the blog to read about the drawing.


The drawing is being held on one of her friend's blogs, which I also found to be really great. Click on Simply Healthful.

Christmas Break! Soooo Goood!

We had so much fun over Christmas break. Kory finished finals, finally! We had a mini-break over the weekend, worked again on Monday then hit the road on Tuesday! I-84 was closed so we had to go the round-about way to get home, through Pocatello. But it actually didn't take too much longer so we didn't mind. The road turned out great, which we were very happy about. On the drive to Boise Kory and I played a game where one of us would say a random topic and the other one would have to respond to it for 1 minute. It was actually a lot of fun to see how the other person responded. It entertained us for a while.

We got to Boise that night and Mom and Dad were happy to have us home safe. The house looked cute with Christmas lights up. Mom decorated the Christmas tree so beautifully. As we started talking about plans for the few days we would be there Dad says, "hey listen, I got something that I thought might be fun...a Nintendo Wii." Haha, he continued to tell us how he had gotten the Wii and some fun games for us so we could have fun while we were in Boise. He had to travel all over town to try and get it! Aren't my parents the best! They really wanted Kory and I to have a lot of fun while we were in Boise. Kory and I were able to find a game I have been really wanting, Mario Party 8! I love that game! We use to play it all of the time on Game Cube. One night when we were playing together Kory said, "I've never played with a Christmas present before Christmas!" haha, it was cute. We really had so much fun with that (and we are still having fun with the game).

On Christmas Eve we went over to our family friend's home and opened Christmas Eve gifts then Kory and I stayed longer to play games with them. The Ellsworths are my favorite family. They have 6 boys that are all like my little brothers. We played Settlers of Catan with them. It was my first time playing and I won! Yeah! I didn't even know I had won until all of the sudden Kieth said, "Doesn't she have the longest road? That means she just won." I think Kory was proud of me.

On Christmas morning Kory and I were up making cinnamon pull-aparts, a Hjelm tradition. It was fun to make them together. Mom and Dad loved them too. Later we opened gifts. I was so excited about the things I got Kory. I was really hoping that he would like them. Mom is so cute, she took video clips of us opening our gifts (except we missed my first gift). I love these videos, our kids are going to be watching these one day. I think its so funny to watch how "newlywed" we are.





They make me laugh so much. We are so silly. I loved the gifts that Kory got me, he is SO thoughtful! He really liked what I got him too...especially the slippers!

On Christmas day we went to Ellsworth's for Sunday dinner. It was so yummy! The Christmas china was beautiful too. Cindy had little settings with our names on them. She is such a great hostess. In the middle of dinner Stephen (Elder Nelson) called! Ahhh, yayyyy! We had to rush home so that we could talk to him.

It was so nice to talk to my brother. He is my best friend, and I sure miss him sometimes! He is doing really well and loving being a missionary. He only had 2 transfers left, crazy! Then starting Spring term he'll be back in Provo going to school and hanging out with Kory and I, I can't wait! But anyway, the funny thing is that over Christmas Stephen was with a companion from Sweden. His companion was telling him all about my new last name and how is means "helmet." Then he laughed, Stephen really got a kick out of that, but he has the best laugh! We talked about how "helmet" also represents strength like a warrior or something. Nonetheless, it was fun that Stephen could kind of connect to me that way through his companion. He is a zone leader in Bakersfield, CA and loving the opportunity to be a leader and a teacher. He is such a happy guy.

The next day Kory and I headed to the mall. Oh my goodness it was SO crazy there! Too many people, traffic and parking were insane. We shopped a little bit. But didn't get anything. Unfortunately, it ended up taking way too much of our time.

That night we went downtown with Mom. First Kory had to make sure I was all bundled up, haha. I felt like the kid on the Christmas Story movie when his mom bundled him up so much he can't move.

We were going to eat at PF Changs but the wait was way too long, so we got lettuce wraps to go instead. We went to One The Border instead, my favorite Mexican restaurant to eat at when I got home. My best friend Cassie (she was one of my bridesmaids) serves there so we were able to see her. Lately when I go home I feel like there isn't always enough time to squeeze in the visits I would like to. I'm glad we got to see her there.

After dinner Kory and I went and saw Bedtime Stories. We liked it, it made us laugh. This is Adam Sandler while it is "raining gumballs" in the movie.


The next day we went to Marley and Me with Mom and Dad. All of us liked it. It was super sad though! After the movie we went and tried Ruby River for the first time. For the price you pay, we weren't that impressed. I love dinner and a movie with my family. Almost every time I go home we go out for dinner and a movie, I always have so much fun.


My mom had a secret project that she revealed while we were there. She was going to make Kory a quilt! She made Stephen (my brother) the coolest quilt in red, black, and white. She pieced it and then had it quilted. It looks so awesome, such a boy quilt. So Mom decided to make one for Kory, too! The two of them were so funny trying to pick out which fabrics they wanted to use. I just watched TV. I think Mom was very excited that Kory actually took time to decide and give an opinion rather than just say, "yeah, that looks good ok, ok." like I would, haha. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Quilts are always so personal and special...especially when someone makes it just for you.



I will definitely post pictures of the final project after it is done!

We drove home on Sunday, when again we lucked out with the weather! It had pounded snow the day before. The drive felt really long. On our way home we got to stop and have dinner at Kory's Uncle Lorrin's. Kory's sister Kelli and the fam were there. That was so fun! I love family gatherings, and now I have even more family to have family gatherings with! Being married is the best, haha. Kelli and Jeremiah got Kory and I such a wonderful Christmas gift...a crepe pan! We are so excited about that. And of course a wonderful activity to do together, an "I Spy" puzzle. They were so thoughtful, and we are so grateful.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Kory and I worked. Then it was new years eve! Yay! One of my two favorite holidays! Can you guess my other favorite? ...The 4th of July of course! I LOVE fireworks. But anyway, after work we got to go over to play cards with Kelli and Jeremiah. That was way fun. But before we played, Kory got the kids all rowdie so they wouldn't want to go to bed, haha. After cards Kory and I headed up to Salt Lake City so we could go to the "First Night" party downtown. We met up with my friend Sarah (from Del Sol) and her husband Sam. I rarely get to see them so that was great! Everyone froze from the cold except me. I guess I had the best shoes on, Kory couldn't feel his toes. I also wore my hood the whole time, which helped. We had fun watching the fire dancers, the hypnotist--who actually wasn't very entertaining--and listening to the interesting live music. But the best part, oh you know what that was, the countdown! We started counting down around 26 or so and continued down to 1 when Kory suddenly dipped me for our first kiss of 2009, haha. He's so cute. Then we got to enjoy a fireworks show. What a perfect way to experience our first New Years together, and start out 2009.



The next day we got to hang out with Kelli, Jeremiah and the kids again. We met them for lunch at Rumbie Island Grill. I got some cute pictures of Kory and the boys. However, my mom pointed out to me that I forgot to get pictures of, "beautiful Aubry!" Oh man! How did I forget that!? Probably because during lunch she was sleeping and so quiet. But she is beautiful. I guess we'll have to enjoy her pictures on Kelli's blog. And why don't we have a pic of us with Kelli and Jeremiah!? Oh man, I was a total slacker. Meanwhile, here is Kory playing with the boys :)



We missed lots of family and friends over the holidays. But overall it was a wonderful break!