Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays.  I love this time of year in general. It starts with Halloween, where I get to deck out my home in creepy crawlies.  Specifically skulls galore this year, as we are building up our Halloween decor and skulls seem to be what I am drawn to each year. 

Then of course, we've got Thanksgiving.  The leaves have changed, there's frost on my car in the morning, and there's really nothing better than a good turkey dinner with family.  This year, we are flying out to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Trevor's grandma and grandpa.  I'm really excited because this will be the first time I've met most of his extended family on the Evans side.  Also, we're flying, and that means we get some airport time, which I LOVE.  There's nothing better than the hustle and bustle of the airport.

Even though I'm loving the holidays, I am so ready for November to be over.  It has seemed like each week we have plans after plans after plans, until we are all planned out and just want to lay in bed.  The day we get home from Arizona, trust me, there will be a major winter's nap occurring!

*Also, has anyone ever checked out the Smitten Kitchen blog?  Deb is my hero. No, really, I idolize her.  And she's been posting some great Thanksgiving recipes lately.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole?  From scratch, homemade crispy onions and all?

Oh yes, please!

 

A Love Letter.

Dear Trev,

Always yours, B

Weekend Snapshots and Gratitude

We always look forward to weekends at the Evans house.  I mean, really, who doesn't, but we REALLY look forward to our weekends.  It's when we get to catch up on laundry from the week, dishes that have been sitting in the sink for a day or two too long, and of course when all the work is done, it's time to play! 

This weekend was no different.  As soon as I got off work this Friday, I headed down to Spanish Fork, taught a piano lesson, then picked up my three youngest siblings for a sleepover.  We picked up a bake at home pizza at Walmart, a Redbox movie, and headed home for a cozy night in.  It was a blast, and if you haven't seen the Croods, you really, really need to.  Plus, the voice of Eep, the leading lady, is my number one chicka, Emma Stone.  Doesn't get much better than that!

Saturday, Trevor headed to primary program practice, while I taught Zach and Addie lessons and we watched lots of Arthur. It was the perfect Saturday Morning... plus, we had pancakes for breakfast.  Delish!

For the last big event on Saturday, we took a wonderful Ikea trip and purchased a bed frame, FINALLY.  No more slumpy mattress for us.  It's been great so far, except the gigantic bruise I have on my hip from running into the footboard.  It will take awhile to get used to, but we are definitely classier people now. 

Phew! I think those are all the updates from this weekend.  It was an eventful couple of days, but we loved it. 

I thought today, since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I would share a few things that I am thankful for. Since I'm not a huge fan of "one a day" gratitude posts on Facebook, I'm sharing a few here. Because I am grateful, just not on Facebook. K thanks.

First and foremost: I am of course grateful for my husband.  I have to start there, because I have a million reasons to be so thankful for him.  He works so hard, even when work is tough and unfair.  He is so patient with me, even when I'm mean and unfair. And really, he's the funniest person I know. It's ridiculous how many times a day I have to say "STOP! I can't breathe!" in between laughs.

Next, I'm grateful for our home & neighbors.  It was scary buying a home, especially in an area where we really don't know anyone.  But so far, the experience has been more than we could have asked for. Our ward is great, and already have us very involved in callings.  It's great to feel needed and to be around great people, and we are definitely surrounded.

I'm grateful for my family. Both my immediate family, and the inlaws.  You always hear about people complaining about their inlaws, but Trevor and I are always talking about how much we both lucked out.  We have great families, and they're our best friends.

I'm grateful for a body that is healthy and happy.  There have been so many things lately which have really made me grateful for mine and Trevor's health. I am constantly praying for others who may not be so fortunate, but it does help me to keep things in perspective of how blessed we are to not be struggling in our lives at this time. 

And lastly, I am grateful for the love of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.  I am grateful for our temple marriage, and that we were able to make the decision to be sealed there this past August.  God truly is great, and we have felt quite the outpouring of blessings and love since our decision to make it to the temple together.

I hope everyone has a great week counting their blessings, and being grateful for everything we have to enjoy this season. What are you grateful for?

Blog Update | A Change of Pace

Dear Family & Friends,

I have been blogging on and off on this personal blog, covering my favorite products, a few random goings on in my life, and to be honest, have found it very dull and boring.  I was trying to be like those other bloggers with their perfect lives and well thought out posts.  But really, it wasn't too interesting to me. So, here I am again, with another blog attempt, but this time I'm going to be talking about things that I am much better at talking about... myself!  Well, myself and my best friend, Trevor.

To give you an update post-wedding, we are living in the most perfect townhome near Thanksgiving Point.  It's perfect for us, but it is far from being truly perfect.  It's perfect in the sense that it has a lot of potential, so we have been spending a lot of our time daydreaming and putting into action various projects around the house.

After numerous trips to The Home Depot, Ikea, and Target, we've been able to get our main level pretty well homey.  With this year's coming tax return, we will be replacing our tile and carpet with engineered wood flooring, and then all that will be left is the finishing touches to make it truly homey.  Our basement is a completely different story, and will be a huge project for us this coming summer, but we are beyond excited for the potential there.

We are both going to be starting school this Spring.  Trevor has taken two semesters at UVU, then put his schooling on pause as he got his new job at Fidelity Investments in September 2012.  The few months between September and January were spent religiously studying for his brokerage licensing exams, then of course our wedding was on the horizon.  So, long story short, he will now be picking up where he left off and delving into his finance degree at UVU.  His educational goals include getting an MBA eventually with an emphasis in finance... I think. Fidelity will be paying for 90% of his tuition, so we are feeling extremely blessed.

As for me, I will be attending SLCC (it is WAY more affordable than UVU) and focusing on music. FINALLY.  This is something I have wanted to do for so long, but have never really thought it was a practical dream. However, nothing else has seemed right, and after prayerfully thinking through my goals and priorities, I've decided a piano performance degree would be the best fit for myself.  I am beyond excited, and we just purchased a piano of our very own.  It needs a little TLC, but it's full of character.  Photos to come.

We have also been very busy with our callings in church.  We were both called as primary teachers, and have been teaching a class of eight very energetic, but adorable, 6 & 7 year olds.  It's been a blast, but didn't last too long, as I was just called as the Primary Secretary.  There are 240 kids in our primary, and I am feeling the pressure, but I know that the Lord will help me to stay organized and the presidency is fabulous as well, so I am extremely excited for my new calling.

All in all, things have been very good as we have been enjoying the process of settling into our own life together, and we are so excited for the next several years as we plan for changes to our home, careers, and family.  Love you all!

Update Shmupdate

Do you want to know why I love this blog? Well, it's because after months of not posting anything, I can come back and pick right back up where I left off.  It's like a good friend. Always here to let me share my thoughts as if we've been talking every day.  Blogging rocks.

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm not even sure if I've told you that I am now a married woman! Mrs. Evans.  Such a normal name, but one that makes me excited when I say it.  My Mr. is my best friend, and going to bed together every night is something I don't remember not doing.  It's so natural for us to be living together, eating together, watching episode after episode of Arrested Development. It's great.

The only thing I have to complain about is the fact that my husband feels the need to scare the jeebies out of me every time he gets the chance.  Doesn't matter if I'm on the phone with my mom, hopping out of the shower, giving a friend a tour of the house... he just LOVES to see the look on my face as I jump and run the other direction.  Obnoxious? Very.  Hilarious? Even more so. 

We've been working on making our house a home.  I've been hanging a lot of pictures I've been collecting over the years as a renter with my best friends, and we're slowly but surely beginning to collect necessary furniture.  I know I need to take more photos of things as I'm going, but I just keep forgetting... I haven't even put our wedding photos on Facebook yet!  Shame on me!

I hope to be posting more updates shortly.  Fall is coming soon, and I'm finding myself needing my own place and outlet to share my thoughts and life with. See you soon!

Lately...

Making : a home.
Cooking : anything and everything in the crock pot.
Drinking : lots and lots of simply orange juice!
Reading: Bossypants by Tina Fey.
Wanting: Fall to come a little quicker.
Looking: for the perfect Autumn wreath.
Playing: Plants vs. Zombies.... 24/7
Wasting: A lot of time playing ^^
Wishing: for a long weekend.
Enjoying: time with my new husband.
Waiting: for payday.
Liking: eBay goodies.
Wondering: what I should have for dinner.
Loving: sleeping with extra blankets.
Hoping: this rain doesn't stop!
Marveling: at how wonderful marriage is.
Needing: a bubble bath.
Smelling: crisp, cook air.
Wearing: my new Forever 21 sweater and denim button up.
Following: too many cute blogs!  I will never measure up!
Noticing: I need to paint my nails.
Knowing: I probably won't paint them until next week.
Thinking: of my list of to dos.
Feeling: a little overwhelmed.
Bookmarking: VineScope.com videos to show Trevor.
Opening: lots of packages in the mail.
Giggling: at everything lately!  Life is too good!
Feeling: very content. :)

How to Make Stress Your Friend | No, Really!

I would have to say that one of the toughest battles for me growing up and especially now as an adult(ish..) person, is stress.  I think that's a pretty common battle for many people.  I stress about absolutely everything.  It's a basic part of my every day journey.  Some days it's more difficult than others.  Some days the stress gets unbearable until all I want to do is sleep.  Some days it's just a light stress, but it's still there!  Again, I think everyone can relate.

But, did you know that you can see your stress in a different way, so it actually can be healthy for you to be stressed.  If you're anything like me, when you're stressed you feel your heart pounding and it stresses you out even more.  No bueno.  Anyway, I plan on watching this 15 minute video several times a week until it's a normal part of my thinking process.  I like what she has to say.