Happiness is something we create in our mind,
It's not something we search for and so seldom find --
It's just waking up and beginning the day
By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray--
It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent
And accepting what comes as a "gift heaven-sent"--
It's giving up wishing for things we have not
And making the best of whatever we've got--
It's knowing that life is determined for us,
And pursuing our tasks without fret, fume, or fuss--
For it's by completing what God gives us to do
That we find real contentment and happiness too.
--By Helen Steiner Rice
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Five Years of Bliss
Austin and I celebrated our fifth anniversary last week! We can't believe so much time has passed. To celebrate the five years, Austin went snowboarding for the day, and I went to work and went Christmas shopping. We did however meet up in the evening to go to Hamilton's Steak and Seafood restaurant. It's the most upscale place Logan has. We happened to go on Date Night. We both were able to get: a drink, soup/salad, entree and dessert for only $25. That's quite a deal when you consider that a chicken entree is around $17. While there at the restaurant, we ran into Austin's ex-girlfriend. - The last girlfriend he had before me. It was kind of ironic to run in to her on our fifth anniversary. But, we chatted for a bit and got caught up on each others' lives.
I've enjoyed looking back on the last five years and seeing what we've been able to do together. It's been an exciting journey and we're still best friends.
I've enjoyed looking back on the last five years and seeing what we've been able to do together. It's been an exciting journey and we're still best friends.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
GRADUATION
Congratulations Austin and Brianna!!!! You did it. Austin and Bri graduated yesterday. It was a cold and very snowy day, but we had fun none the less.
Good ol' Joe (Bri's boyfriend) dropped Bri off to where she was supposed to go early so he was able to get great seats for us. We were on row ten and right by where Austin and Bri walked by. We were able to get some awesome pictures.
The speaker for graduation was Carol Strong. She is the dean for the college that I graduated with and now work with. I thought that was cool. Our old Bishop works at USU and was sitting in the section with other professors. We got to see him afterwards and it was sooo fun to see him again. He was a great Bishop.
After the commencement we went with Austin's family to Texas Roadhouse and my family went with Bri to Hamilton's. While we were at Texas Roadhouse we saw our Bishop that was with us when we got married (almost five years ago!). He was at the temple when we were sealed. We didn't say hi to him, but it was still fun to see him.
Austin graduated in the Cum Laude honor section. That means you have a GPA of 3.5 - 3.799.
After our super fun day of celebrating graduation guess what we got to do: SNOW REMOVAL!!!! Yeah. Oh well, we finally finished and were able to go home and rest.
Congrats Austin and Bri. :)
Good ol' Joe (Bri's boyfriend) dropped Bri off to where she was supposed to go early so he was able to get great seats for us. We were on row ten and right by where Austin and Bri walked by. We were able to get some awesome pictures.
The speaker for graduation was Carol Strong. She is the dean for the college that I graduated with and now work with. I thought that was cool. Our old Bishop works at USU and was sitting in the section with other professors. We got to see him afterwards and it was sooo fun to see him again. He was a great Bishop.
After the commencement we went with Austin's family to Texas Roadhouse and my family went with Bri to Hamilton's. While we were at Texas Roadhouse we saw our Bishop that was with us when we got married (almost five years ago!). He was at the temple when we were sealed. We didn't say hi to him, but it was still fun to see him.
Austin graduated in the Cum Laude honor section. That means you have a GPA of 3.5 - 3.799.
After our super fun day of celebrating graduation guess what we got to do: SNOW REMOVAL!!!! Yeah. Oh well, we finally finished and were able to go home and rest.
Congrats Austin and Bri. :)
Count Down Chain
At the beginning of fall semester Austin had the brilliant idea to make a countdown chain for the semester, since it was his LAST one! So, way back in August we made our chain, and at the end of each week, Austin cut a link.
My little sister was also graduating this semester and so we had her help us when she was around.
Here are some pictures of some of the cutting ceremonies. The best one is the last one. We celebrated the end of the semester with Martinelli's sparkling cider.
My little sister was also graduating this semester and so we had her help us when she was around.
Here are some pictures of some of the cutting ceremonies. The best one is the last one. We celebrated the end of the semester with Martinelli's sparkling cider.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was such a great holiday this year. Austin and I headed to Bountiful to spend the weekend with my family on Thursday morning. We had such a feast that day and we all tried new recipes this year. Most were a success, but one or two recipes are now labeled as "no repeat." We had a full house with all our own family, then my Grandma, Grandpa, three aunts and one uncle. It was great.
Friday we started decorating my parent's house. We had the Christmas music going and had fun getting out all the fun Christmas decor. At 3:30 most of the family went to go see "New Moon." Austin had been begging me to go see it since it was released, but I kept telling him I didn't want to fight the crowds. Well, when you go to movies in Salt Lake, you can reserve your seats, so that's why I consented. ;) It's a great show and my mom is now really intrigued about reading the books.
Saturday was a continuation of decorating. We got mostly done. I was in charge of dinner that night and made homemade chili and scones... delicious!!!!!!!
Sunday was spent with the family again. My family all really like to hang out with each other. Some people find that odd. We had Second Thanksgiving dinner and more games and fun.
Austin and I slept in every day. Austin was able to relax a bunch, which he needed a lot. I've never seen him busier.
It's always so sad when the weekend comes to a close. We really had so much fun. But, now that Thanksgiving is over, we now have the two week countdown until Austin and Bri GRADUATE!!!!!!!!!!! We are crazy super excited for that event. :D
Friday we started decorating my parent's house. We had the Christmas music going and had fun getting out all the fun Christmas decor. At 3:30 most of the family went to go see "New Moon." Austin had been begging me to go see it since it was released, but I kept telling him I didn't want to fight the crowds. Well, when you go to movies in Salt Lake, you can reserve your seats, so that's why I consented. ;) It's a great show and my mom is now really intrigued about reading the books.
Saturday was a continuation of decorating. We got mostly done. I was in charge of dinner that night and made homemade chili and scones... delicious!!!!!!!
Sunday was spent with the family again. My family all really like to hang out with each other. Some people find that odd. We had Second Thanksgiving dinner and more games and fun.
Austin and I slept in every day. Austin was able to relax a bunch, which he needed a lot. I've never seen him busier.
It's always so sad when the weekend comes to a close. We really had so much fun. But, now that Thanksgiving is over, we now have the two week countdown until Austin and Bri GRADUATE!!!!!!!!!!! We are crazy super excited for that event. :D
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
P is for PARKER
Earlier this month, Austin and I had our nephew Parker come stay with us for a weekend. Oh boy, was he excited. Staci and I met half way so I could get him and on the way back to Logan, he kept talking and talking. Bri came with me to get Parker and she gave Parker some of her Subway sandwich. As he was eating it he would ask, " What's this?" Bri would say, "A tomato." Parker would then say, "I love tomatoes." He did this for cucumbers and pepperoni. It was cute.
Parker is in preschool, and if you recall your preschool days, you made things at school. Well, when we got back to Logan, we had to pick up Austin from school. When he got in the car, Parker asked Austin, "So what'd you make?" Unfortunately, college isn't always full of fun projects to make, so Austin didn't really have an answer for Parks.
Some of the things we did while Parker was with us: Got white carnations and put them in food colored water. Over the weekend, the color moved up through the stems and into the petals. It was pretty cool to watch. We put the flowers in the colored water on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday morning, Parker woke me up with whispering: "Leslie........ Leslie!" "What?" "I'm excited to look at our flowers."
We went to dinner at Fredrico's with Bri and Joe. Parker got his own six inch pepperoni pizza. He loved it and ate most of it, plus a salad, and one slice of garlic toast.
He helped Austin break off one of the links to his count-down chain for the semester.
We decorated a gingerbread haunted house, played outside on the playground, rode around on the longboard, took Jazz for a walk. We played Mario Kart on the Wii where Parker won "every time." I think his favorite part was getting "treasures" (which are the little boxes that have the turtle shells, or mushrooms and such). We read lots of books while he cuddled up to me before quiet time, we went to all three hours of church. When it was time to go to Primary, he was so excited to go play and have snack he forgot to say goodbye.
The whole weekend Parker made sure that Jazz had a toy to play with and in return, Jazz gave him plenty of kisses - which Parker willingly took. He would laugh the whole time Jazz was kissing his face. He loves animals so much.
We sang songs together and his favorite is 5 LITTLE MONKEYS SWINGING IN THE TREE. For those who don't know the lyrics, here they are:
Action: Swing your hand back and forth
Lyric: Five little monkeys swinging in a tree.
Action: Shaking finger back and forth
Lyric: Teasing Mr. Alligator "You can't catch me. You can't catch me."
Action: Hands together forming a point and making it swim forward
Lyric (whispering): Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be...
Action: Snap hands together on the word "snap."
Lyric: ...aaaannnnddddd SNAPPED that monkey right out of that tree.
Repeat with 4, 3, 2, and then 1 monkey on hands. Parker loved this song, and of course, his favorite part was when Mr. Alligator snapped the monkey. :D
Parker was extremely happy about his bed we had for him. It was made from two sponge camping pads about three inches thick. We put tons of blankets on it and he would jump on his bed and say, "It's ok for me to jump on my bed because it won't break!"
Parker ate all his food, and took his naps and went to bed without any problems. He is such a fun-loving guy. We have so much fun when he comes to stay with us.
Parker is in preschool, and if you recall your preschool days, you made things at school. Well, when we got back to Logan, we had to pick up Austin from school. When he got in the car, Parker asked Austin, "So what'd you make?" Unfortunately, college isn't always full of fun projects to make, so Austin didn't really have an answer for Parks.
Some of the things we did while Parker was with us: Got white carnations and put them in food colored water. Over the weekend, the color moved up through the stems and into the petals. It was pretty cool to watch. We put the flowers in the colored water on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday morning, Parker woke me up with whispering: "Leslie........ Leslie!" "What?" "I'm excited to look at our flowers."
We went to dinner at Fredrico's with Bri and Joe. Parker got his own six inch pepperoni pizza. He loved it and ate most of it, plus a salad, and one slice of garlic toast.
He helped Austin break off one of the links to his count-down chain for the semester.
We decorated a gingerbread haunted house, played outside on the playground, rode around on the longboard, took Jazz for a walk. We played Mario Kart on the Wii where Parker won "every time." I think his favorite part was getting "treasures" (which are the little boxes that have the turtle shells, or mushrooms and such). We read lots of books while he cuddled up to me before quiet time, we went to all three hours of church. When it was time to go to Primary, he was so excited to go play and have snack he forgot to say goodbye.
The whole weekend Parker made sure that Jazz had a toy to play with and in return, Jazz gave him plenty of kisses - which Parker willingly took. He would laugh the whole time Jazz was kissing his face. He loves animals so much.
We sang songs together and his favorite is 5 LITTLE MONKEYS SWINGING IN THE TREE. For those who don't know the lyrics, here they are:
Action: Swing your hand back and forth
Lyric: Five little monkeys swinging in a tree.
Action: Shaking finger back and forth
Lyric: Teasing Mr. Alligator "You can't catch me. You can't catch me."
Action: Hands together forming a point and making it swim forward
Lyric (whispering): Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be...
Action: Snap hands together on the word "snap."
Lyric: ...aaaannnnddddd SNAPPED that monkey right out of that tree.
Repeat with 4, 3, 2, and then 1 monkey on hands. Parker loved this song, and of course, his favorite part was when Mr. Alligator snapped the monkey. :D
Parker was extremely happy about his bed we had for him. It was made from two sponge camping pads about three inches thick. We put tons of blankets on it and he would jump on his bed and say, "It's ok for me to jump on my bed because it won't break!"
Parker ate all his food, and took his naps and went to bed without any problems. He is such a fun-loving guy. We have so much fun when he comes to stay with us.
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