You know you're married to a nerd when...

• You list off your spouse's friends by their gamer tags instead of their names.
• You're alone on a Friday night because there's a Magic the Gathering tournament going on.
• You hear the word "Java" and coffee is the second thing you think of.
• You offer to put a sleeping bag next to their computer...and they consider it.
• You leave a hotel early in the morning, and you walk up to the receptionist and say: "good morning, I would like to logout."
• You look at new computers like they are fast cars...
• You're sitting in the same room, instant messaging each other.
• You ask them where they put the cookies and they say they "deleted" them.

Excited for Christmas

Doug and I are so excited for Christmas with his side of the family this year! We've been married for 2 years now. Our first Christmas together we spent with his family. The 2nd, we spent it with my family and now, our 3rd Christmas we're going back to where we started! It will be really fun.

While we're in Washington, we're going to go see Anne of Green Gable at the local Play house. I love Anne of Green Gables and all the plays we've been to so far there, have been AMAZING. 

I'm also excited just to see my siblings-in-law (and parent-in-laws of course!). I love Doug's family so much. His two brothers aren't always around when we go to visit so hopefully they all be there too. Christmas just isn't the same when your family isn't there. Doug's brother Ben also is dating a girl, named Chanel. I love her. She's such an interesting person to talk to. I always enjoy when she's around. I definitely approve of her being part of the family! :)

And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for the food! Doug's mom makes the best food. We eat so well when we go on vacation. (probably because we actually eat!)

I found out yesterday that we'll be having the missionaries over to eat dinner with us on Christmas. That'll be so nice. I'm happy to let the missionaries spend the holiday with us. Doug's mom is so sweet too, she's going to have stockings with presents in them to give the missionaries when they come. She is so thoughtful. I hope I'll be a mom like her someday.

Well I've pretty uch said everything I wanted to say. I hope you all have a merry christmas!

Another round of confessions

#1 Cleaning commercials really bug me because when they wipe a spill off the counter, they NEVER clean it all away. If you're going to show the product cleaning the counter, then clean the counter!

#2 A single, male college student used my bathroom the other night and left the toilet seat up. I was actually really shocked to see the toilet that way. Doug never leaves the seat up. I don't even know if he ever even lifts it up that's how good he is. lol

#3 Yesterday I listened to "Oh Santa" by Mariah Carey AT LEAST 10 times. and I plan on doing it again today. (I love that song)

Another one of Jetta!

Jetta Helen Packard

Jetta sleeping at the hospital

Jetta Helen Packard 1 day old!

My New Niece Jetta

Beautiful baby Jetta Helen Packard at 6 lbs. 11 oz. 21 in. Mommy and baby doing great!

Saturday Confessions

#1 Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is possibly the funniest animated movie I have ever seen.
#2 I got an ornament today that plays "let it snow"  and I've literally pressed the button and danced around the house AT LEAST 20 times already.
#3 I love SuperNanny. I only wish I had kids so I could implement all her rules in my house. ( Trying to give my husband time-out doesn't go over so well.)

Confessions

I've seen these on a few other people's blogs and they're so funny, I'd thought I'd try it out! :)

#1 I remember the jingle from the scruff mcgruff commercials
      "Scruff Mcgruff, Chicago, IL 60652" http://www.mcgruff.org/
#2 Just a couple years ago I sent a letter to the scruff mcgruff address to try to get some of their comics but nothing came of it.. they must've moved
#3 I'm turning into my mom, and I love it. (Small example: I spill something on my shirt EVERY meal)
#4 Sometimes I forget to eat.
#5 This morning when I woke up I thought it was Friday.
#6 I don't like eating crunchy things I usually avoid chips because they're too crunchy.
#7 I haven't worked at Gandolfo's for over a year but still, when I see someone on the street, I can remember that they came into Gandolfo's, what they're spouse looked like, and what they ordered.
#8 I wear the same pants to work everyday and only wash them once a week.
#9 I love the Real Housewives shows.
#10 Even though I dislike Rexburg more than any other place in the world, I don't want to leave until I have my Bachelor's degree. (which won't be for AT LEAST another two years!)

Rognon Photography Photo Shoot Pictures

Here are pictures from the free photo shoot Doug and I won a few weeks ago from Rognon Photography

  

  

  

 

 

Halloween Fun

Doug and I dressed up as Leonard and Penny from "The Big Bang Theory" this year. I don't have pictures..but we did so good, I think I may make Doug put on his costume again so that we can document it. :) On friday, we went to Tommi's halloween party. She went all out with crazy decorations. I didn't have my costume ready yet on friday, so I just went as "doug" (my husband) I wore one of his outfits including shoes and a halo hat. I carried around an xbox controller and had his microphone/headset thing in my ear. I also wore his Kraft name tag that he wears when he's working. I was pretty legit. I had fun dressing up like him. He thought I was making fun of him the whole night, but really I was complimenting how cool he is. At least he has an actual style that is recognizable. :) Here's a picture of us:
Stephanie is on the right, as Miss Frizzle (from the magic school bus), Doug in the middle as Leonard (from the big bang theory) and ME on the left as "my husband, Doug"

On Saturday, our ward had a Trunk or Treat. It was so fun to see all the cute kids dressed up. Saturday was also the day that we got ALL of our trick-or-treaters. Not a single trick or treater came on Sunday (which was ACTUALLY Halloween!). Apparently, there was some type of news broadcast that everyone knew about that had announced that Trick or Treating would happen on Saturday this year. Can I just say, MORMONS ARE WEIRD!!! lol. I love being LDS, but seriously, am I the only one who thinks that this is weird?? okay, that's the end of that rant. :)
I'm glad halloween is over now, because I don't really like decorating for halloween. All the decorations are scary or just plain annoying to set up (like the stupid spiderwebs... don't even get me started!) I'm totally ready for christmas! Even though we won't be here for christmas this year, I still am so excited to put up lights and get a christmas tree and make a christmas wreath. I love Christmas!

We Won!

Doug and I won the free photo shoot contest!! We're taking pictures this Saturday! As soon as we get them I'll post them so you can see how adorable we are! :)

Thanks so much for all your help!

Free Photo Shoot

Doug and I are finalists in a contest to win a free photo shoot!It's between us and one other couple! (The other couple is actually in our ward!) We're in the lead right now, but in order to keep our lead, we need more votes! If you'd like to support us and help us win this much-needed photo shoot you can do both or one of two things:

A) Go to their website and leave a comment
      1) Go to www.rognonphotography.com 
      2) Leave a comment saying "I vote for Doug and Kendra!"

B) "Like" us on Facebook
     1) Click this link to go to their Facebook page: Rognon Photography
       2) Click the "like" page on the top of their Facebook page
       3) Click "like" under our story

It's that simple! And it'll help us out a lot!!! :)

New Job, New school year, New News!

So I have a new job! I still work at Beehive Federal Credit Union, but now I'm the telephone operator in the call center rather than the errand girl/slave of the credit union. :P I love my new job. It's nice because I don't have to actually solve anyone's problems. I just listen to their stories and then transfer the call to the appropriate representative. And my schedule is absolutely wonderful. I'm loving my life at the moment.

Also, Doug and I submitted paperwork this past Sunday to be temple workers! I'm so excited to hear back from the temple! It's nice because you can't be a temple worker when you're pregnant or have small children, so it's pretty perfect right now, because it can help keep my mind off wanting a baby until it's the right time for our family. I'll have something else to occupy my thoughts. I'm just so so excited!

Doug started his fall semester about a month ago. He enjoys getting to work on fun projects, but he's not liking the stress of having deadlines at all. (who does, really?) I'm trying to help him figure out the best schedule for his workload. He's doing okay for the time being, but I know come finals, he's going to be very very stressed out.

Doug was called to be the elder's quorum secretary in our ward. I think he's been enjoying his calling a lot. It's nice because he gets to know what's going on in the ward without having to be in charge or responsible for getting it all done. (I'm jealous). I got called like 2 months ago, I guess, to be the 2nd counselor in the relief society. The president is Tommi (we grew up in Tracy together). It's been pretty crazy up until now. I think with school being back in session things are starting to get into a good routine though, so the craziness will finally end.

That's all I can think of to tell you now, I'll keep you updated about the temple and doug's school stuff.





P.S.
The temple called, and basically didn't want us. Sad, but it's okay. Maybe next time!

Sugery!

       Yesterday, Doug woke me up at about 1:30 and asked me to take him to the Emergency room. He was having really bad stomach pains. He had been having really bad stomach pains every 4-6 months for the passed 3 years. We went into the hospital and the doctors ran some basic blood and urine tests. His blood test showed that his white count was up and so they kept him at the hospital the rest of the night to observe his white count later in the morning. When they ran the second blood test his white count was higher than before so they went ahead and ordered a cat scan and sure enough they saw he had appendicitis!
       They got him into surgery pretty quickly once they found the problem. He was in surgery for about 45 minutes and then in the recovery room for another 45 minutes. I was surprised at how NOT loopy he was after surgery. He was pretty coherent. He was of course very sleepy, but he was feeling great after surgery. They watched him for a few hours after surgery to make sure he could keep down all his food and could walk around. He was ready to leave by 6pm.

So that's the story, he's doing a lot better now! I'm trying to make sure he doesn't strain himself and that he keeps his blood circulating. Thanks for all your prayers and nice thoughts! We really appreciate it!

Sorry!

I just want to apologize for not giving you any updates for the past 2 months!!

Doug and I moved into our new apartment a month ago (pictures to come fairly soon)

We just got a new desk for our office this past weekend (picture to come)

I started school in April and that has been awesome. I've been doing excellently in all my classes. Doug's been so bored during the day that he has dinner ready for me every night when I get off work. He's made 3 loaves of homemade bread in the past month!

I got promoted at work and now I fill the ATMs around town and scan checks and receipts into the computer every night. It's a lot more exciting than just sorting mail (but I'm still doing that too.)

Doug and I got called to be the Nursery leaders in our ward and that's been fun so far. We come home exhausted every Sunday (so much for a day of rest!!)

Oh! and I got a haircut! My hair is short now! My mom hasn't even seen pictures yet, so as soon as I show her, I'll get them up on here.

Okay.. well that's all of the news I can think of right now.. I'll try to get some pictures up soon!!

Kendra's 21st Birthday!

Pictures to come, but I just wanted to write down all the fun things I got to do for my birthday!

The weekend before my birthday I went down to Utah for my cousin Jacquelyn's baby shower. (I'll have a picture of that up soon too, but the picture's on Kristi's camera) I stayed with Kristi and Joe in Provo. I love those two, they are so much fun! Kristi secretly made me a cake for my birthday and it was super cute.. (well.. in the "my-two-year-old-finger-painted-an-indistinguishable-image" kind of cute. haha) Kristi and Joe also got me a gift card to Cold Stone for my birthday, I can't wait to use that!!! They also took my out to eat some Chinese food & Joe took us to Dairy Queen for some blizzards (he's so nice!).

While in Utah, we tried to attend the festival of colors in Spanish Fork, but by the time we had walked a few miles down the road to the Temple we saw people walking back with chalk all over them, so we figured the chalk had already been thrown and we might as well walk back. I was okay with that though, because it was hot and I was tired. I'm aiming for next year though. It'll definitely happen next year. :) On Sunday morning I left before church started, but before Joe woke up, Kristi and I made some snickerdoodles.

So that was my weekend. THEN on my actual birthday....

My parents and Doug's parents sent me some packages for my birthday. Doug hid the one from my parents, but I answered the door when the one from his parents arrived. I was so excited to open them all! They came on Monday and my birthday was on Tuesday. If you know me well, you know that I am not a very patient person, so waiting a day was sheer (shear?) torture, but I succeeded. At midnight on Tuesday, Doug let me open up all my presents from parents. I felt like a cheater, because I've never opened up presents without first having to blow out candles! But it was really fun to feel mischievous. After opening all of them I went to bed.

The actual DAY of my birthday was pretty uneventful. It was a rainy day. I went to the bank to deposit some money. Then I went and got my new license and it turns out the lady at the DMV who printed out my license's birthday was the same day as MY birthday. Crazy coincidence. She looked a lot older than 21 though!
It's funny too, because I actually have another friend whose name is Kendra and her birthday is also March 30th. Great parents think alike (and participate in the same martial activities on the same day)!

I went to work and a few people said Happy Birthday to me. I even got a little goodie bag, so that was kind of fun. I'm glad they didn't do more than that, though, or else I would have felt really awkward. (I don't know any of the people I work with)
Doug had some presents of his own for me to open later that evening and I baked a cake (well I helped at least.)
Our home teacher came over at 7 to home teach us. It was kind of nice to have a visitor on my actual birthday. (He didn't know it was my birthday though) We told him we were moving and at first he was sad, but then he found out that we were moving into the married student stake that he has a calling in he got SO EXCITED for us. He practically jumped out of his seat it was pretty funny. We appreciated his enthusiasm though, because we're super excited too!

After our home teacher left we busted out the cake, watched the Jungle Book and then I think we went to bed.

The weekend after my party was General Conference weekend, but after the priesthood session was over we had a small party with friends. I have the most awesome friends. We played some games (Apples to Apples & Wits and Wagers) and ate some snack foods.

I got an awesome candle warmer from Kayla and Matt. Doug finally got it put together for me, and we've had a candle under it ever since. LET ME TELL YOU: I am now a convert to candle warmers. I love love love them. I was about ready to chuck this one candle into the trash because it wasn't melting very much of the wax and the wax was all uneven and ugly looking and it didn't give off much fragrance. But a few minutes under the candle warmer and our house smelled amazing. Now I want to go to D.I. and find all the candles that still smell good, but have lost their wicks and melt them down under my candle warmer. Good idea, right?

So that was my birthday! and to top off all the fun I had, General Conference was awesome! It doesn't get much better than this. :)

Flower Wreath

I made this! I found a wicker wreath, flowers, and that G all at DI for about $6. I hot-glued the flowers to the wreath & then glued the leaves on. Then I just tied the G to a string. (haha.. "g-string") And there you go! It was super easy. I did get the flowers from DI so they're not all the same, but I kind of like it that way. I need to find a cute ribbon or something to hang it on the door.

Picnic in the Living Room

So the other day, Doug and I decided that we would make sandwiches for dinner. I was in charge of slicing the tomatoes and other slice-able things. While I was working on the food, Doug was secretly setting up a picnic in our living room! So when I walked out with the food I saw this:

(He bought Jone's Cream Soda for me.)

So we had a picnic in our living room while we watched "The Big Bang Theory."

We got it!

I got the call today! Doug and I are getting the apartment!
It's not 100% just yet, because we still need to meet the owners and they have to like us, but seriously, we're awesome-they're going to love us! :)

I'm so excited!!! Thanks for your prayers!

**Here's a more detailed list of what the apartment includes:

• NO WOOD PANELING! WHOO HOO!
• Second floor (no noise above us!)
• 2 Bedrooms/1 Bath/1 Laundry Room
• Closets in each room with plenty of shelving and storage space. (2 closets in Master Bedroom)
• 2 door entrance into the bathroom (one from the master bedroom, one from the hall)
• Full bathtub
• Curved shower curtain rod
• Huge, Beautiful windows in every room of the apartment
• Ceiling Fan in the living room
• Storage & Shelving in laundry room
• Pantry in Kitchen
• All new appliances-Floating microwave above Range
• Dishwasher/Garbage Disposal (we've been going without a disposal for the past year & 3 months)
• Washer & Dryer
• New Carpet
• Wooden blinds
• Covered Parking
• And the current tenants get government paid electricity right now, but when they move they'll be living with their parents. They said they'll keep their name in the program until their check runs out. So for a few months we'll have free electricity!
• There's also a little old lady who lives in the apartment underneath this one who keeps her thermostat at like 90 degrees, so that'll significantly lower our heating bill!

The apartment I want!

(The Pictures Got Deleted, Sorry!!)

I found this little beauty just today and Doug and I are going to go check it out this coming Saturday. I'm really excited. If everything looks okay, we're going to be moving in May. This place is a 2 bedroom. It has closets!! It has a washer/dryer, dishwasher, microwave. A bathtub (we don't have one of those right now). It's 475 a month + utilities. It's an awesome deal! Pray that everything goes smoothly & no one snatches up this place before we get a chance to check it out!

Hairstyle

So I went to Evans Hairstyling College today to get my hair trimmed a little bit and I had the girl who did my hair, straighten it. She asked me if I wanted it "poofed."

I basically said, "Sure, why not!?"

So she gave me a "Hill Cumorah" as we Idahoans like to refer to it. At first I was crackin' up. My head feels huge and alien-like.

Now that I've had a little time to adjust to it though, I don't mind it. But uh.. I don't think it's really up my alley. Maybe I'll try it again in 20 years, who knows?

Here's a picture to document the occasion though:

Food Poisoning

Doug and I got food poisoning over the past weekend. We think it's from some leftover pasta salad we ate. It hit me saturday afternoon and I finally threw up at 2 am on Sunday morning.  2 hours later, I threw up 2 more times. It took a little longer for Doug to feel the full effects. He actually got to church and taught our 12-year-old sunday school class. But a little while after he got home, he threw up too. We've been downing gatorade and orange juice. We're all better now. I think our bodies are still a little tired, but I can handle that a lot more than hanging out in the bathroom for hours.

Sorry this update is a gross one.

Visiting Kristi, Bachelorette Party, & Bed Skirt

Last weekend, Doug and I drove down to see Kristi & Joe in Provo. We had a lot of fun. We got to just hang out, go to Ikea, and we all went to see The Princess & the Frog at the dollar theater at BYU. Kristi made us this yummy dish called "Peanut Butter Soup" So good. (I made it again since we've been home!) We also went to church with her on Sunday (Student Married Ward) and we decided that we love being around people are own age. It's a little more comfortable. So we've decided we're going to start going to our own assigned married student ward here in Rexburg instead of the family ward. It was fun to see my sister! I love Kristi & I'm glad to see that she has a cute apartment & is living a pretty good life! :)

This Saturday, I threw one of my favorite people ever (Katie), a bridal shower. I had a lot of fun, I hope she enjoyed it! I didn't take any pictures. I really meant to. I forgot to assign someone to camera duty. But anywho... we had food, we played games.. we chit-chatted. We're girls, that's what we do.

Also, I made a new bed skirt for mine & Doug's bed. I used our flat sheet that we never use and would never ever use in the future and I cut it up. I measured the length of 3 sides of our bed & then I measured the length from the bed to the floor (or like an inch or two above the floor. Then I just cut the fabric & hemmed it. After doing all that, I actually did NOT sew the pieces onto the previous bed skirt... instead I Velcro-ed them. I really like how it turned out. & I liked Velcro-ing the fabric on, because if I ever want to make another bed skirt,  I can just rip off these pieces & use them as a pattern for my next one & then Velcro the new fabric on. Genius! :)

Doug went to a Magic card tournament on Friday in Idaho Falls and he actually ended up coming in 2nd place. "That's my nerdy boy!" I always tell Doug, that if he's going to be a nerd, he better be the best nerd there is! In his world, he should be the coolest. All the other nerds should want to be him, because I don't want him to be the  kind of  nerd that all the other nerds make fun of! :) I'm proud of him for doing so well & he's always happy when he comes home from playing at a tournament, so that's a plus!

Valentine's Day

Doug and I had an excellent valentine's day. We pretty much celebrated it on Saturday. Doug came home from work with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

    (I don't know what kind they are.. maybe you can tell me) 

Then, later that night while Doug was playing Halo on x-box, I went and decorated our bedroom wall with cut-out hearts. He had no idea that I was up to something even being just one room away! When I was done I pulled him away from his game and gave him his surprise. Yeah.. he thought I was pretty cute.

       We went out to eat dinner at this "Mexican" restaurant, Gringo's. The name about sums it up. It's Mexican food made by a bunch of gringos. Not good, but not inedible either. But even with the bad Mexican food, our date was sweet and we were all lovey-dovey. I love spending time with Doug. Valentine's day will remain one of my all-time favorite holidays as long as I have my wonderful husband to celebrate it with. :)

Roommate Reunion/Halo LAN Party

Last Friday me and my old roommates had a girl's night/reunion party. It was so much fun. Those who were there were: Me (of course), Tommi Williams (Tonnies), Kendra Stringham (Tashima), Katie Elmer (soon to be Sorenson), and Stephanie Stokes. The only person we were missing was Cassidy. It was a blast. The night started off with everyone but myself arriving late to Kendra's house. Then once everyone got there we thought of things we left at home or wanted to go get so we hopped in the car and got Brownies from Stephanie's apartment, a netflix movie from my apartment (that we didn't end up watching) and Kendra hadn't eaten dinner so we stopped by Little Ceasar's and she picked up a $5 pizza.  Basically the whole night we just talked and talked and ate and talked. We talked about our husbands and weddings and babies and school and vaccines and politics, and movies, and I don't even know what else! It was funny too, because we each brought some kind of junk food, but the thing that got eaten the most were the baby carrots that Kendra pulled out of her fridge half-way through the night. We tried playing a game called "Bang" that's really fun, but it didn't work out too well because we were too busy chit-chatting we kept forgetting to play our cards. We stayed up way too late (6:15 am to be exact) but it was worth it. I had such a good time. I want another girl's night!

While I was off having my girl's night, Doug had a halo party at our house. About 9 guys showed up and our friend Andrew brought his HUGE tv to our house for the guys to use. I wasn't there so I can't say much about the guy's party, but from the sounds of it they all had a lot of fun. The next day Doug even asked me, "can you have another girl's night?" so that he could throw another halo party.

It's so funny, because Doug thinks my girl's night was lame. "All you did was talk??" but I think his guy's night was lame. "All you did was play Halo? You didn't talk at all??" :)

Oh the weird differences between guys and girls! If this doesn't prove that girls are the superior sex I don't know what does. :)

New Job

So I got the job! I started officially yesterday. I sort mail and drop it off at the post office, I run errands and deliver important documents to other banks and loan businesses in town. It's a pretty easy job. I'm enjoying it so far. I have an orientation meeting today with my good friend Matt Murphy (he's the reason I got the job) so after today hopefully I'll be completely "legit" and I'll have a punch-in clock code and office email etc.. whoo hoo!

Fixed Washing Machine

Our washing machine is now working again! Hallelujah!

Other notable news:
I (Kendra) have a job interview tomorrow with Beehive Federal Credit Union. Wish me luck!
Doug's 24th birthday is tomorrow! I wish we had some money so I could get him some presents, but we don't. We'll have fun playing games with friends though. That'll be way fun!

Anywho... that's the update for now. I'll keep you posted on how the job interview goes!