FHE

Jesse and I love family home evening. Sometimes it's hard to come up with stuff to do with just us two (especially in the winter in Rexburg). When we were cleaning our house we found some teeth bleaching pens. Then we had the idea of using them to bleach T-shirts.  The bleach had been sitting so long it didn't do anything. So we emptied the gel out of the pens and filled them with Clorox bleach. It was a really fun activity. Take a look at what we made!! If you have any other fun FHE ideas for the two of us please feel free to comment.

      *We only had one black shirt so I bleached my infamous sweats!

         *My husbands from the South. He thinks he's gangster.

           *My husbands from the South. He has weird nicknames for me.

Donut of Epic Proportion

 Jesse and I both recently celebrated our birthdays! Happy Birthday to us! We both had great days filled with phone calls from family, going out to eat, and opening presents. It was quite a series of events. Two highlights from my birthday my mom came to Rexburg to surprise me and Jesse can now say that he is no longer married to a teenager (he's really excited about that). Of all the great things that birthdays bring this year Jesse topped them all. In my family it is a tradition to go to the local donut shop and buy a chocolate chip cake donut. Jesse has only heard about this tradition. I continued to tell him about how big and awesome this donut was (he didn't know how big). So Jesse being the wonderful husband he is and wanting to fulfill a tradition went into a donut shop here and asked them to make him the biggest donut they could. This is what they gave him; it's about 4 or 5 times as big as my "big" birthday donut from back home. Jesse knocked it out of the park on this one. My husband is awesome!! (enjoy pictures from both our birthdays)

                       **Jesse really likes Reeses haha

Easter

Even though its almost the 4th of July we can't go without writing about Easter. This was our first Easter together. However, it was practically non existent seeing as we both had traveled for 15+ hours and gotten home after dinner time the night before Easter. Because we had been gone for that whole week we didn't even think about preparing our house for the Easter bunny to come (we'll do better next year). There was no egg hunts or Easter baskets. However, it was abnormally important to me that we dye Easter eggs. So, Jesse humored me and we boiled the eggs. Unfortunately, we were so tired from our traveling we actually fell asleep while the eggs were cooling in the fridge. Luckily for us we don't have church until 1:30 so we were able to dye eggs Easter morning with the Andersons. It felt so nice to just be at home with friends and family spending time celebrating a very sacred and important day. On a more spiritual note (no pun intended) we listened to Rob Gardner's  He is Jesus Christ to put our hearts in the right place before going to church. What an amazing production. If you haven't heard it you must listen to it. If you live in Boise the Institute choir performs it at the temple every Easter morning. It is an amazing experience. Anyway, after church we had friends over for a wonderful Easter feast. We had the typical Easter goods, well sort of. We had ham and funeral potatoes, deviled  eggs and broccoli, and a wonderful chocolate mousse made by Mrs. Jacky Northgrave. I only say sort of because the potatoes were not your typical funeral potatoes. We now call our "mishap" recipe On the border potatoes. Instead of plain hash browns we accidentally bought loaded hash browns with peppers and onions in the mix. We didn't realize it until we had already mixed it in. Usually topped with cornflakes or potato chips, ours was topped with spicy cheez its because we didn't have anything else in our cupboards (remember we had been gone for the week prior to this day). So we through it all together. They came out tasting pretty dang good but nothing like the funeral potatoes people know and love. They tasted like Texas ran up and punched you in the face. If you want some bold potatoes these are awesome. Ya'll should try them sometime. You know, just for a change of scenery. Despite our lack for fancy festivities it was a wonderfully wonderful Easter. It was a good opportunity for reflection and another wonderful day spent with my wonderful husband. Can't wait for next year!

   Notice the matching J&R eggs (In the middle). We thought it would be funny to both dye eggs in our wedding colors with our initials on them. We rather enjoy this same name business! and of course we are sporting BYU-I in the bottom right corner. Plus, (you can't see it very well) but Chip and Dale came to our Easter dying party and signed the yellow egg on the bottom row!

Texas Torture

It has been ages since I posted and A LOT has happened. Since I last wrote we have had both a new niece and a nephew come into the family. Welcome Lucy Rae and Slate Grayson! Because of these two wonderful gifts I was able to extend my traveling experience providing me with my second airplane ride since being married. For those of you who are counting that's now double how many plane rides I had been on pre-wedding. As you all know my husband is a dancing fool. He loves it and I love him for it. Dancing has taken him a lot of places but most recently to Texas! He was gone for 17 days. Sounds short but it was the longest 17 days of my life! While he was gone though I got to go home and meet baby Lucy for the first time. I sure love that little girl. What an adorable baby she is; good work Ang and Bry. After spending a week at home (a week that went by too fast, miss you all!!) with the family I headed back up to Rexburg to attend my cousins wedding. Congrats Brittney and Josh. Marriage is the best decision I ever made and I am so excited for them and their exciting new adventure. After everyone left back to Boise I was left alone in Rexburg, by myself, extremely lonely and missing my husband. A special thanks and shout out to Rachel and Jared who fed me and kept me entertained. You guys are the best of friends. After a pretty miserable 13 days without my husband Jesse decided it would be best for everyone if I just came down to Texas. That brings me to the second new addition to the family, Slate. Jesse's brother Andrew and his wife Sara live in Houston. I still hadn't met Sara or any of their kids. Jesse decided this was as good as opportunity as any so he got me a flight and before I knew it I was on my way to meet the family and SEE JESSE!!!! It was almost 15 hours of traveling but I got there. Once there I went with Jesse's mom (who came down to meet the baby and watch Jesse dance) to the theater where Jesse would dance. We saw Jesse, what a relief and happy feeling that was. That night we watched Dance Alliance do their show (the 6th time I had seen it) and it was wonderful. It was a show that invited the spirit like nothing I had ever seen before, it was beautiful. We all went back to Andrew and Sara's where I got to meet Sara and where we all got to meet Slate. Jesse and I didn't get to stay together for long. He left with Dance Alliance to finish touring Texas and I stayed with Andrew and Sara for the rest of the week (missing the first week of school in the meantime). I loved spending time with them and their kids, what a perfectly cute family. It was also nice to spend more time with my mother-in-law. I love the Hyde family. Every time I spend time with them I learn so much. What a wonderful group of people, I feel so blessed to be a part of it.  So thanks Andrew and Sara for letting me stay right after you had a new baby and sharing your family with me. Ya'll are wonderful people. I sure love you! Also, thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for driving me to and from the airport and being such an example to me. The end of the story is, Jesse actually beat me home to Rexburg. He picked me up from the bus stop and we were never happier to see one another. We couldn't stop smiling. It was quite the joyous occasion. We have been spending a lot of time since catching up from missing that week of school. I think we finally got it under control. It only took half a semester! What I learned most from this experience was, I am all for supporting my husband but I would be ok if he never had to leave town again!!
(Pictures of our cute nieces and nephews and Jesse on tour)

We Love Gift Cards!!

So as many of you know Jesse and I got married back in December. We had a plethora of receptions and as we all know, lots of receptions means lots of gifts and... GIFT CARDS!! We were very blessed to have a great turnout at the Boise reception and ended up getting everything we needed/wanted. As I mentioned in an earlier post our Memphis reception was 2 months after our wedding. In Memphis we got even more GIFT CARDS. We already have everything we need so we keep our gift cards handy and when we discover we want something we add it to our gift card wish list. Well, Jesse had read about a married student activity that the school was hosting. They were going to do a camping/ski trip. All equipment and food were included all we had to do was provide camping supplies. So we went to Idaho Falls to buy us a tent! We picked out our tent and went home very excited to use it on our trip. However, the weather went from being 25 degrees and sunny to 25 degrees and raining (these temperature applying to the hottest part of the day). The trip wasn't cancelled due to the weather but Jesse and I decided that sleeping in the rain with a low of 10 degrees didn't sound very fun. So we went on a date instead. When we got home our new tent was still sitting in the middle of the living room. We sat in silence staring at for awhile. Finally, Jesse broke the silence by admitting that he was really looking forward to using our new tent. At the same time our eyes both lit up. We quickly jumped up. Jesse set up the tent, I got the sleeping bags, and we set up camp in our living room. We even turned off the lights and used flashlights, we played some camping games (and by that I mean cards of course!!!), and slept on our new air mattress!! The best part about it was in the morning all we had to do was zip back the door and we had some morning cartoons right there in our campground. To all of you who got us gift cards, Thank You!! You helped to make our married life/this weekend an adventure!! As always, enjoy the pictures!!

Home of Elvis... Home of Jesse

We are slightly behind in updating the general public on our married adventures. About a month ago we went on the biggest adventure I have ever embarked on, ever, in my entire life! It was the second airplane I had ever been on (the first being when I was 8) and the farthest east I have ever been by... well, a LONG way. We left at 5am from the Salt Lake airport and by 3pm we were in Memphis the home of Elvis, BBQ, Rock n' Roll, and my most excellent husband Jesse. Friday afternoon we spent some time with my parents who also made the trip down. We took a tour (a long one with my father driving in an unknown city) of all the must see's in Memphis. We went and saw Graceland, the ducks at the Peabody, the civil rights museum (the site where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed), Beale Street, and of course ate dinner at the famous Rendezvous, where we met up with Jesse's parents. After being in my husbands birthplace for 5+ hours I finally got to go see "home." We spent the evening talking and then called it a night ready for a busy day ahead. In the morning we attending a session in the Memphis Temple. It was a wonderful session full of the spirit present when your surrounded by a loving family. All I wanted from my trip to Memphis was a taste of the culture, because let's be honest my experiences with culture are seriously lacking. So, my wonderful mother-in-law took us to see the local high school play. Talk about culture!! The cast had six people in it and it was a musical. These kids were more talented than any performing college group in the entire state of Idaho. Not only could they sing but they could dance. It was awesome! After the play we went home to get ready for the reception (the main purpose for our trip to Memphis). The reception was wonderful. Everyone in Memphis is so friendly. They have a good supportive community down there. It was so fun to meet so many people who love the Hyde family. Sunday after church Jesse took me to see all the must see's of Jesse's life. It was so fun to actually see where all the stories took place. We also got to go visit Jesse's second mom, Gayle. She is such a fun, wonderful, and strong woman. We love you Gayle! We went home to pack so we could start our long journey back, a journey that started at 4am and ended when we finally pulled into our apartment complex at 10pm. We are so grateful we had the opportunity to make it down. It was such a wonderful trip. It was amazing how comfortable I felt in the Hyde home. They are wonderful people and am glad they are apart of my family. Thank you Blaine and Linda! I'm glad my parents could be there as well. We love our family! Can't wait to go again! Enjoy the pictures!

Hair Cut

About two weeks after I got married I chopped all my hair off. This is the first time my hair has been this short since I was two years old! It's been pretty fun and a ton EASIER!!! 

The best part about cutting my hair was the realization that I have the best husband in the world. When I asked Jesse what he thought about me cutting my hair he gave me his opinion followed by, "I will support you in whatever you want to do." I thought that was normal because he always responds like that. However, it didn't take long to for me to realize that not all husbands are as supportive as mine. The first thing the lady cutting my hair said after I told I wanted to chop it was, "My husband would kill me if I cut my hair." Pretty much everyone I talked to after that said pretty much the same thing. They were all shocked that Jesse approved of my bold decision. I have come to appreciate this in Jesse more and more. He lets me make my own decisions and not just when it comes to silly things like cutting my hair. He is so good at giving his advice and opinion without pressuring me. It reminds me of something Sister Hinckley said. During an interview discussing the tricks to a happy marriage she said, "I am very grateful for a husband who always lets me do my own thing. ... He never insists that I do anything his way, or any way for that matter. From the very beginning he gave me space and let me fly." I have always thought that is just how things are. More and more I am realizing that not everybody has that support from their husband. Jesse is such a wonderful man. I echo Sister Hinckley in that I am extremely grateful for my supportive husband and the fact that he still lets me fly and become who I want to become. I love you Jesse!!!