My Zen

There is only so much one can do to decorate their house when they can't paint the walls or have the money to buy drapery etc. So I decided to give myself something to do to employ the skills I have. Plus, the Dollar Store here isn't half bad. So I got a lot for not much money.

This is my summer arrangement which is in our bedroom at the time. I can't decide where to put it that I like it the best.

This is a more formal arrangement I have on the table. Our theme for most the house actually seems to be white and black. But I guess part of that is they go with the weird colors we have on the walls of the room. So the table has white and red which go well with the black and white we usually have.

This is the tiny rake I made out of dowels. It took a while and was challenging to make work, but it turned out well. Plus it took up time and made me think.

And here is my Zen Garden.

Daniel came home from school and I showed him all of my creations. He looked at the Zen Garden and started playing with the rake, while saying " I never understood these things...." Not much longer after that he stopped and said, " Never mind... Now I do."

So now it looks like I have tried to decorate our house. I like having flowers, even if they aren't real. Plus the Zen Garden I foresee as being a great addition to our lives. Seeing as how there is a lot of change, school, work, etc.

A Happy Birthday!

Saturday was my birthday and it was great! Friday night is "Date night" for Daniel and I, and I mentioned that I wish we could go camping. So Daniel came home, and we set up the tent for some "camping". Which was the start to a fabulous birthday!

And no camping is complete without some stars to look at! :)

Then Saturday, Daniel worked on his paper for a class, and I sat down and did the coolest mind puzzle ever! I took apart a hard drive. :) Daniel did point out a few things, but most of it i did on my own! It was amazing! The disk is so reflective and un-flawed, the information is stored magnetically.

This is our way cool magnet we now have. One of the parts I couldn't figure out was magnetic. They use very strong magnets to move the arm that writes on the disk, and man, even with all the screws out I thought I had missed some. Talk about some good magnets!

Daniel wanted to see how they powered the motor that spins the disk. So normally these are the parts that the power flows through. Then we used wires and a battery to see. Come to find out the power flow alternates two ways to make the disk spin. We are talking around 54000 RPM! So batteries don't work.... hehehe... but the more I learn about computers, the more amazed I am with how they work and all that goes on. It is so cool! And I get to learn about computers every day! Daniel shares things with me and can answer any question I have about them! I love it!

In the afternoon we took a ride on the motorcycle. We use to come out to the School when we were dating, so we came back and played in the toys. :) Such fun!

Daniel then took me to Craigo's for dinner! I LOVE the Mindy's Special! Craigo's Pizza will be one thing I'll miss when we leave. Then we got together with a few friends and did smores out at the Dunes.

A fabulous Birthday! Thank you friends and Family for all you do! And thank you to my amazing husband!

Winter or Spring?

As those of you who have been here in Rexburg Know, Mother Nature can't make up her mind about what season it should be. It has been sunny and warm, and then yesterday it snowed! Grrrr.... I want it to be summer! I can't wait until I can go out side and not freeze!

Thankfully though, it didn't snow for too long. So the snow is all gone again!!! Yeah! Though this morning I woke up and there is a bunch of white frost everywhere!!!! Ahhhhhhh..... I'm getting impatient. Daniel and I have plans for the summer and can't wait to start, but I guess Mother Nature has a different idea of when that should start....... Evidently she didn't like that we have been riding the motorcycle so much.....

So I realized the other day that I haven't put any pictures up of our house now that we have stuff in it! So here is what our house looks like.... The office is in the living room, Daniel Didn't like feeling so far away and cut off from me while working, and we didn't have anything but a couch in the living room, so tada! and now we have an extra room for people! So we are very happy with our house. For a first house it is amazing!

So Much!

I have been having so much fun cooking dinner. I love using our amazing plates, cloth napkins and wine glasses. To night I was so excited that everything turned out well. I have never done kabobs, so to get them together, marinating for long enough and soaking the skewers... I was proud of my Accomplishment! I also did some amazing mashed potatoes with sour cream in them! yummy. And we had milkshakes, with chocolate syrup on the inside of the glass, for cool effect. It also is the right mingle of chocolate to vanilla.

Though dinner is great, dessert is the best, and in this case it isn't food. Daniel has been applying to lots of jobs for work after he graduates in December, and he is starting a lot of interviews!!! We are so excited to be hearing back from the companies! So far he has had one phone interview with Garmin. So if they like him the next step will be a fly out interview. This job is located in the LA area of California. So it would be warm all year to ride the bike! :)

He has a phone interview with GE. They are in Minden Nevada. Nice and moderate weather. Daniel is really excited about this job.

Another phone interview with Epic. Which is an amazing company that does programming for health care technology. They are in Madison Wisconsin. So a bit colder... but nice area and GEAT benefits. This is the job Daniel really would like. They are a great place to work for!

So we are starting to look at places and are getting excited. We finally feel like we will get out or REXBURG!!! So we have been celebrating a lot...... well at least happy, and thanking the Lord for his blessings. We have so much to be thankful for and when it doesn't seem like life could get better, it does. We are so blessed with all we have. And for being married for just 2 months, we have been so blessed. We have been able to find a very affordable house that is much better than an apartment complex, we have been able to keep the motorcycle, which we both love and enjoy having. We have the Buick and were able to buy Joye's Saturn from her. So we have the ability to travel and I now know how to drive manual. This is just the beginning. We have so many things to be thankful for. Plus we have amazing family and friends.

So we are doing great and living well. Daniel is in the last 3 weeks of the semester, and then we have a little break. There is much to be happy about in life, even though the weather is snowy and glum today.

Walks

Daniel and I have been going for little walks now that it is warm! We generally don't find much of anything. But this last time we found the most bizarre advertisement, not to mention coolest car job!

Our Home

Early this February we had some massive icicles out our dinning room window. Daniel used me as the measuring stick.... and there were a couple that were my height or taller! so 5'2" plus!!!! Though I will admit the best icicles fell just a little bit earlier. It made me sad, I didn't get pictures of the best ones.

Today while eating lunch we noticed a pair of Doves sitting in the tree. I decided that it was perfect for pictures. They were still there a couple hours later too. How fitting though right?

A Fabulous Weekend

So I forgot to take pictures this weekend.... :( I love pictures on blogs, but I have some things to write.

Daniel and I drove down to Utah for my sister's baby's blessing. We decided to go down Saturday and were able to go to the Salt Lake Temple with her and her husband. We enjoyed it very much and it was amazing to see. All of the painting, wood work ect. is what the pioneers did. It is amazing to think about the work, time and sacrifices that went into building such a beautiful place.

Sunday was great. We were able to spend time with many fabulous people! my sister (Angela) and her husband (Tekoi) and family (Talmage, Kimball, Katlyn), also my brother (Stephen) and his wife (Lois). It was great. We were also able to see some of Tekoi's family I haven't seen for a while. Lots of people for Daniel to meet, but he still enjoyed it. Angela made amazing food! We had rolls and fruit and chicken and sauces for the chicken.... Both Daniel and I ate a lot!!!

So thank you to Angela and Tekoi for their hospitality, it was great to get to spend time with you.

Monday, I know doesn't count as the weekend, but it was a good way to start the week. Daniel's brother Rich came up to see us! It was a lot of fun. We got to talk, we looked at motorcycles, made creme brulee, had dinner together, family home evening, ate creme brulee, and watched a great movie. So it was a fun filled Monday with Rich.

So life is good for us. We are very happy and married life is great. We couldn't ask for a better point in our life.

Hello again. So Daniel and I have been riding the motorcycle as of late. Ok.... so, riding, in Feburary, in Rexburg, none the less. But it really isn't that bad. The other day we rode out to the nature park and made some friends with the ducks. There was one that sounded just like Donald Duck.



Here is my latest adventure. Lemon Meringue Pie. This is the first one I've made and it is yummy!
Sooooo.... This is what happens when you improvise when cooking...... you get a messy kitchen.

This is Grandma Ranallo's Dinner Night. We made Grandma Ranallo's spaghetti, thanks to Aunt Tracy! Which we thought it turned out very good. Daniel ate way too much! But I set the table fancy, using the plates from Aunt Tracy, our wine glasses, water goblets, cloth napkins and matching silverware!


So this is the Spaghetti sauce, and it was SOOOOO good. I don't like meatballs, but Grandma sure knew how to make them! I loved them!



The after math of dinner.... mmmm... soo full.

We went on a walk not much later.. Daniel was feeling fat after eating sooo much. Then we moved on to pie! All-in-all it was a great night. Lots of good food, each other and a great time.