August 17 through August 23

 

Our Sunday morning started out wonderful! We got out on time (which is good for us lol), and had a breakfast in the beautiful dining room in the Armstrong Mansion. And we got back to Evanston on time to teach primary :)

 

 

 

 

My sister Allie does awesome things, including throwing a back-to-school fashion show for the kiddos! They went from station to station, getting a sticker on their report cards and a prize in their goodie bags. It was brilliant. I managed an art station, but stations included math, school lunch, paper airplanes, registration and writing their names with big-pool-noodles-chalk-at-the-end. Then we had a fashion show and handed out red oreo apple pops.

 

 

{{homemade raspberry freezer jam}}

 

Allie's been helping me do some wood projects. ah so fun. They're not completely done and in our apartment in Provo-so here are some photos of the progress. Thanks allie! 

 

 

 

this above will have a wooden jackolantern face on it

 

 

also mom is really happy

 

On Friday I got the opportunity to serve at the temple open house in Ogden. It's so beautiful. Service brings happiness, makes life more meaningful. I was able to push wheelchairs through the tour and talk to wonderful people. The rest of the day included Warren's, another temple trip, and shopping!

 

Saturday!! We moved in (but not for good yet). Wow thank you for all the help! Mom and Dad came with a truck and the Harris family was there even before we arrived. While I was doing inventory, they moved the stuff upstairs. thank you ! ! ! Seth and I can't wait to put our house together and make it our home :) Late that night we went to Pizze Pie Café (my first time). Oh how I wish I was there when Seth sang "Save a Horse" during their karaoke night. I love that wild and crazy boy.

 

 

By the way, I'm in love with this next picture. (thanks Sami Jo!)

Until next time,

 

t&s

 

 

August 10 through August 16

 

This week started with more work for Sethy...but things are looking up! This huge project they are doing is coming to an end and I'm so happy about it. I want my husband back.

 

Our furniture is coming along for our new home. My grandparents gave us a dining room table and 6 chairs, and we are so thankful for it! I started refinishing it. My plan is to paint the bottom white and re-do the top (strip it, and make it nice and smooth again). I just don't like how dark it is. The knobs also arrived for the dresser I antiqued I love how it turned out! It's perfect!

FALL is coming!!! And our wreath is done. I can't wait to hang it up. I got everything for it at JoAnn's. Yay for craftiness.

 

Seth and I had a special night watching a lightning storm in the back of his truck. I love rain and rainstorms. They just make me happy. August has been a good month :)

 

 

 

 

Food magic is happening. We got lots of peaches from Aunt Sherie, which were put to good use! We made homemade peach cobbler with double the crumble, and homemade blushing peach freezer jam. I'm so glad it turned out. Last year I tried freezer jam and failed miserably.

 

 

 

Farmer's market food! Tonight I made good use of the eggplant. I've never made it before, but it is eggplant parm and it turned out so delicious.  First things first, slice the eggplant and get extra juices out by pressing them against paper towels. Then, dip each slice into egg and then Italian style bread crumbs. I baked the eggplant for 5-10 minutes on both sides and then wanted it browner to I broiled it as well. Then, I made alfredo sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan and add parmesan, heavy cream and pepper. To add more sauce but not as much fat, I added some of a jar of already made alfredo sauce. It still tasted like the fatty stuff :) Then I made it like lasagna, in a sense. Put some sauce in the bottom of the pan, then start layering.  Eggplant, sauce, mozzarella. eggplant, sauce, mozzarella. Finish it off with cheese and sauce and bake until the top is golden. It is so delicious.

 

Since Seth was going to have a weekend off work, we decided that we needed to get away and have some alone romantic cheesy lovey dovey time :) And it was amazing!! We had a blast!

We drove to Salt Lake and started the night out by going and doing sealings for family names at the Oaquirh Mountain Temple. It was so awesome  and wonderful and it just reminded me so much of when I promised to love Seth forever. Then we went to Sizzler. It was a feast!

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

It was a cheap hotel night and the next day we went to Cherry Hill and played a bunch in the water and just relaxed. It was much need and perfect and wonderful. I have the sweetest husband in the world.

 

 

That evening, we checked into the Armstrong Mansion Bed and Breakfast <3

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 

-t&s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

August 3 through August 9

We are getting into August now and my husband is still finishing up a 90 hour week. We are so blessed with work and he is making money for us, and it's great for his resume. It's just been getting hard. We miss each other so much, but it's only for a couple more weeks. Tomorrow I have an interview for a substitute teaching position. I am praying that I get it. I have so many butterflies about tomorrow.  Also, we only need 1 more trip to Green River to get all of our stuff and then we'll be moving to Provo :)

This week, I have taken up working out a bit by doing pilates and watching Gossip Girl. I made some meals for the fam including a delicious French dip sandwiches with homemade sweet potato fries. Another night, I made tomato basil flatbread pizza, and Italian cream chicken. Dad said it tasted like chicken stroganoff. I'll take that as a compliment seeing as how he ate it for lunch the next day :)

With fall coming, I've been getting motivated to do some fall crafts. I'll post pics when they are done, but I was at Joann's and I just loved gathering supplies to do some crafts. I'm super excited about this and I hope they turn out as cute as I imagine!

Mom and I went to the farmer's market and got some yumminess :) Homemade energy bars from Aunt LeAnne, Anna's Tamales and empanadas, limeade, cranberry orange bread, tomatoes, garlic, and an eggplant. It's so refreshing and feels good to shop at places like that!

 

Seth and I had a date night with dinner at Sud's and Sethy played his games :) We've been enjoying our little sanctuary in the basement. One night we got McDonalds and watched part of the 10th Kingdom. It is sooo fun to hang out with my husband!

 

I also gave a talk at church about the atonement. During the last school year I didn't really belong anywhere, what with working in Rock Springs, living in Green River, and being in Evanston and Provo so much with my boyfriend/fiancé at the time. So naturally, I hadn't spoken in a while and I was pretty nervous. Seth ended up having the work, so my awesome brother-in-law Mark spoke with me. I didn't tell Bishop ahead of time though so Seth's name was on the program! It was so funny; one lady was so confused. She could have sworn it wasn't my husband up there but he looked just enough alike to make her wonder. But I was so grateful and blessed that day. Sister-in-laws Sarah and bf Wes came to see me, as well as Julia. My parents came to watch. I got lots of compliments, and I felt so much love from everyone. Heavenly Father knows when we need strength and I'm so glad he could have all these loving people be there for me that day.

 

No pictures this time, I'm way behind on blogging :)  

July 27 through August 2

 

 

Things seem to be slowing down for me this week...but there are still a few things I want to get done before summer ends...including refinishing another coffee table, finishing a dresser that I antiqued, and refinishing our dining room table! Yay! THANK YOU Mom and Grandparents for giving us furniture to start out when we have our own home :)

 

***

 

Seth worked 80 hours last week but we still managed to have some fun. I'm so proud of him for the wonderful man that he is! He never complains and always has a smile on his face. I love you my sweetheart. It makes me miss him soooo much, but at least we get to see each other every night.

 

***

 

I got my hair done and my goal is to have it grow long and natural! So my color will fade a little into my natural color. My friend Kinsey did it and she's amazing :)

 

 

 

 

***

 

I got to spend some time with Kinsey and Sarah this week. We went to the rec. center and work out. We even got juice afterwards! I CANT BELIEVE HOW SORE I WAS DAYS AFTER THAT!!!!!

Luckily, I'm better now and I've even worked out a couple times since then :)

 

 

 

***

 

 

I read the book "Heaven is For Real," and it truly strengthened my testimony of heaven and especially Jesus Christ. Seth and I haven't watched the movie yet, but I think we might soon! The book is about a young boy that went to heaven for 3 minutes during surgery. He was very close to death. Then, throughout the years he says things here and there about what he experienced and what happened when he was in heaven. I loved how he emphasized how Jesus loves the children and just how he described things there. The picture below is mentioned in the book; another child had a similar experience to the boy and painted the picture of Jesus. In the book, the parents would show the boy pictures of Jesus, but the boy would always say it wasn't the right one. But when they showed him the picture mentioned (don't know if this was the exact picture), he fell silent and finally it was the right picture. The book isn't officially church doctrine or anything, but I liked it and I do like how Jesus is portrayed in this picture. I know that God loves us and that Jesus loves us. I know that some of the most important things in this life are how we treat each other and how we show God we love Him. I'm so thankful for all Jesus did for me so that I can have a happy life and return to live with my Father in Heaven.

 

 

 

***

 

Thursday was Mom's birthday. We went to park city and watched "Maleficent." Then went shopping for a bit and ate at Red Rocks. I found a CUTE birdhouse and I'm so excited to find something to do with it! We drove back and finished the night with a Whole Food's cake and homemade raspberry ice cream with our own home-grown raspberries :)

 

I love you, Mom. Happy Birthday.

 

 

 

 

***

 

Seth and I have been watching my favorite movie together. Only a few in this world actually know what it is. But sometimes we have evenings where we relax and watch some of the movie and we just love cuddling so much.

 

***

 

We lived it up at the fair with food from the Bread Barn (funnel cake, curly fries, lemonade, and a peanut butter ball). Only in Evanston! We had a fun night out together ;) We looked at animals and a hypnotist and just walked around being love birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

On Saturday night we drove to Rock Springs for the Thompson Square Concert! We met up with Mark, Laura, Julia, Anna, Mary, Sarah, and Wes. It was so fun! The 2 singers are married and they were so cute together.

 

 

 

 

Most importantly, we love each other and we're there for each other when times get tough. I'm so blessed to know that we will be together forever, and knowing that I get unlimited time with my Seth makes me sooo happy!

 

-t&s