I have the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!

I just had to let everyone know that my husband is THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WORLD! He does such a wonderful job at making me feel special all the time, but every now and then he pulls something extra special out of his sleeve to make me feel super special. Today when he got home from work, after having been gone for a whole 12 hours, he brought me some beautiful roses...just because. I am so lucky/blessed to be married to my best friend. I LOVE YOU, DARWIN!!

For all you ladies with little girls...

My sister-in-law, Rachel, makes adorable skirts for little girls. She has two girls herself, and she always makes them look so cute! Rachel started a site on Etsy called Hers So Cute, where you can see what she has and place an order. I told her I'd let all my friends know ;) Click HERE to see her site. Also, just so you can see evidence on our blog of some of the cute stuff she makes, she also makes blankets (since we don't have need for little girl skirts yet), and we've been lucky enough to get three of them so far!

Thoughs, Insights, and Memories Cont.

I found some more pictures from this past weekend I needed to put up to go along with my previous post. My parents, little brother, Skylar, and my niece, Amaia, stopped by on Sunday on their way back up from St. George. It's always nice to have them come by on their way through.

Amaia and Aunt K (we were on a team, and we won!! Thanks for your help, Moose!)

Playing Mario Party 8--Thanks Hancocks!!

I used to love spinning. (Don't mind the double chin :)

We have the same haircut :)

Because my sister, Shannon, isn't into the blogging thing yet, I thought I'd post a few pictures of her kids for those of you who read my blog, and know Shannon. This was Liam's first pickle experience :)

Still happy as a clam. He's really the happiest baby I've ever met!

His big sister, Hannah, LOVES pickles, and has been eating them pretty much since she was born ;)

It's so great to be surrounded by family and wonderful friends. D & I truly are blessed!!

Thoughs, Insights, and Memories

You know when three people have said that we must be busy because it's been a while (a whole 2 weeks) since we last posted, you know it's time to post again :) So, bear with me, because we have lots of updates for our past two weeks!

Item #1)
School started up again, so, Yes! We are busy!! But life is still great! (The picture is to symbolize the craziness of our lives at the moment, and just how static-y things have been at our house during the whole winter season so far!)

Item #2)
I had another blood test done for my thyroid, and my blood levels are STILL normal, so I still don't have to go back on my thyroid meds, and I don't have to have my blood tested again until this summer!! That is WONDERFUL news for us!!

Item #3)
Just about every morning for the past week or so, we've woken up to THICK fog around our house. I personally like fog because I think it's cool, but it's been making even cooler effects than just making it hard to see outside. It's been making everything crystallize, and it looks soo much more amazing than when it just snows on the trees...here's what I mean:

We can see this tree just outside our window. It's beautiful!!

Amazing crystals!!

It even does it on the signs!And the car antennae

This is an icicle hanging from our covered parking.

Beautiful shots of a tree just outside the clubhouse.

Item #4)
D's parents gave us some old end-tables they've been keeping in their attic. We decided we'd like them better if we painted them black:

Before

After
we definitely like the "after" better. Thanks, Mom & Dad Deming!

Item #5)
D is the COOLEST science teacher EVER!! He and his students built a giant plant cell that you could walk into. Unfortunately they ran out of time and weren't able to finish it, but here are some pictures of the outside of it before D and I tore it down yesterday.

Item #6)
We had a wonderful MLK weekend, and were glad to reflect upon the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. He truly was an inspired man of God, and did wonderful things during his life on this Earth. (Just look at what happened yesterday with President Obama! That would not have been possible without MLK.) Also, for MLK day, we decided to think of others and find a simple thing we could do to help our fellow men...so we donated our blood. This is significant for me because it's the first time I've gone to donate, and I actually passed the interview! Haha! Last time we went together, they wouldn't let either one of us donate because D had just had a cadavor bone put in his mouth and I told them I was allergic to rubbing alcohol. I haven't had any reactions to rubbing alcohol for a while now, so I've stopped telling people I'm allergic to it :)

Item #7)
History in the Making:
Although we missed watching Pres. Obama being sworn in yesterday, we were able to catch bits and pieces. We also caught bits and pieces of the balls he went to last night with his beautiful wife, Michelle. D and I are glad to see Obama as President of the United States, and are hopeful to see changes for the better during his presidency. We know some of you may be shocked by this info because D and I are registered Republicans, but D and I DID vote for Obama, and were glad to see him win the election. We felt like he was the best presidential candidate for this next term and although we do not agree with him on everything, we are prepared to support him in many of the things he hopes to change. It's amazing to witness our Nation's first African American president, and I am glad that I can be alive during this amazing time in history.

He's glad I watch TV

My husband is so sweet. He compliments me all the time on random things, and I love it! Last night at dinner, he said the funniest thing though! Before I tell you what he said, I have to give a little background. Before I got married, I had cooked maybe 10 meals my whole life. I HATED cooking! I would much rather scrub toilets (which I don't mind cleaning most of the time) than cook a meal! Also, if you know me, you know that despite my loathing of cooking, I've always loved watching cooking shows. I guess it's more fun for me to watch people cook than for me to do the cooking myself. But, for some reason, when I met Darwin and we got married I suddenly had a desire to kick my cooking skills up a notch. I think my cooking has steadily improved during the time we've been married, and I honestly really enjoy it now. (Baking is another story however, but I'm working on learning to love that too) I love trying new recipes and giving them my own pizazz to spice them up a bit more to mine and Darwin's liking.

So...last night at dinner...

I decided I wanted to make a nice, warm, comforting meal for dinner because it was my last night of freedom before the semester started again, it had been snowing all day, and I knew Darwin was going to have a long day at school so I wanted to welcome him home with a nice hot cooked meal. My choice of culinary art for the evening was broccoli-cheddar soup and homemade bread sticks. Really nothing too fancy, but I was pretty proud of myself (especially because I made homemade bread sticks!!). Luckily, Darwin enjoyed it too and informed me that he's glad I watch cooking shows all the time because my cooking skills have definitely improved :D

He's right though. I get all sorts of wonderful tips from watching Food Network all day! There is no way on this Earth I will ever make even a quarter of the recipes I see on Food Network, but I use cooking tips all the time! I've even got Darwin watching the cooking shows with me when he has time, and he picks up on good cooking tips as well.

So, thanks to my Food Network addiction, and my desire to please my husband, my cooking skills are improving!! :)

Happy New Year...and more updates :)

We hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and that you've all made your resolutions and will have the will-power to complete them. I don't know about you, but it seems like I make resolutions every New Year, and by the end of January I forget what they were because I lacked the dedication to pursue them. Hopefully this year will be different.

Darwin & I have had a very busy Christmas break, but it has been wonderful and we're sad that it's over already! After Christmas we were able to spend our New Years Eve in Park City, UT, at a "cabin" with Jared & Tracee and the whole McSweeney clan. We were so glad they invited us to spend the holiday with them, and we had a blast hanging out at the "cabin" and doing some shopping at the Tanger Outlet stores. I put "cabin" in parenthesis because it was more a ginormous house on the mountain side than what I pictured to be the "cabin" we were staying in. The place was beautiful! Darwin & I shared the master bedroom with Jared, Tracee, and Reagan. What amazed me was that the master bathroom alone was bigger than our bedroom combined with our closet and bathroom in our new place. Good times. We really had a great time spending New Years with the McSweeney family.

Also, I wanted to post pictures of some of our holiday fun. Hope you enjoy, and Happy New Years to all!

J & T took us tubing with them again this year to Soldier Hollow. If you haven't been, you really should go!

Awesome shot D got of J

Beautiful St. George scenery

R decorated our tree before we did. :)He's going to be such a good daddy :)Me & Hannah Bear having some snuggle timeSky was so excited about his gift from Kniesha, Jaisy, and Amaia :)Dad smelling his gift to see if he could tell what it wasWe made Mom cry :)Gotta love the camera man!The stockings were hung...Me & D "opening our present"New towels for our new bathroom!!...And a matching candle!Dec. 25th is also my baby brother's b-day. Happy 17th, Skylar!Onto Christmas with the Deming side!We all got special treats from Santa and were a little worried about the warning on the tag!New blanket from Rachel...I love it!!Planet Earth DVDs from GeoNew Years at the "cabin"

Rub-a-dub-dub; three kids in a tub.D, Me, Becca, Jimmy, T, & JFrom this picture you can tell who's still on the honeymoon (me & D), and who will be soon (hopefully).B, Me, T, and EmmaPlaying games in the basementAll the ladies getting ready for midnightOur wonderful/beautiful hostess :)T & JJimmy trying to get New Years love from anyone, including Jared's mom ;)What else can we say?Jimmy the Elf and Becca :)The "cabin"
We finished off our Christmas break by having an open house for friends and family to come see our new place.
Yes, we dipped and drizzled our own pretzels! Thanks, Hancock's for helping!!Darwin showing off his class-pet while he was home for Christmas break.Horsey rides $0.25 a piece :)Nanny & LiamLots of Love :)