Have You Ever....?

Have you ever wanted to decorate for the holidays, but just didn't do it?

I have. I don't have many decorations, but I wanted to put out something for Valentine's Day. Aaaand I didn't... Bummer. The day came and went in the blink of an eye. I'll tell you what I did do though. I made a printable. Yeah, like the cute things you see all over Pinterest. It isn't so great, but it was fun to play around with. Here, see for yourself.

Someday, I'll be able to make some just as good as the ones on Pinterest.

Tom tried his hand at a Valentine Printable too. See?

He's so romantic...

Have you ever made a baby blanket with no previous sewing experience?

I have. I have been bound and determined to make a baby blanket all through my pregnancy. But who has never sewn on a sewing machine before (without a master seamstress' supervision)? Oh, that's right. This girl.  I was stubborn enough to give it a try. The finished product is far  from perfect, but it is made with a mother's love. That's all that counts, right? I took a bunch of pictures, but here's just one for now. Maybe I'll grace you with a tutorial-type post sometime. Maybe.

Have you ever wanted to make curtains for the baby's bedroom, with still no sewing experience?

I have. I have yet to start this project though... It's a little more daunting than a baby blanket.

Have you ever had a 2nd, 2nd Anniversary?

I have. Tom and I celebrated our two year anniversary the end of February. We decided to split the celebrations up into two parts so we could each have a chance to surprise the other. It was a brilliant idea on my husband's part. Maybe next year, we can split it into 3 parts... then after that, 4.... and by the time we're 75, we will have a lot of days to celebrate!

Have you ever had your husband log into your blog and write the true feelings of his heart?

I have. That is what the previous post is all about. I hope some of you get a kick out of it. I did.

Have you ever thought that "cubed steak" was, in fact, meat cut into cubes?

I have. And it's not. Whoops. I'm not sure what I was thinking... Pregnancy brain got in the way I guess. Good news is, our smothered burritos turned out fine. Though next time I'll make sure to use stew meat. I got the recipe from Pinterest, but here's the link to the actual blog. It was a hit with the hubby!

Have you ever taken a few "baby bump" pictures on your phone and been so dissatisfied with how you looked that you didn't want to post them for anyone to see, but your mom and her friends kept bugging you about wanting to see "how cute you look" and so you gave in?

I have. This one is for your mom.

26 weeks

31 weeks

I'm at 34 weeks now and feeling great! Only 6 more to go...

And, have you ever wanted to keep writing, but didn't have anything else to say?

I have.

Seriously?

July. Really? July was the last time I blogged? Pathetic.

I am truly a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" blogger. (Remember that book?)

And to top it all off, I'm a hypocrite. I am always reading other blogs, and when I finally get all caught up with nothing else to read, I think, "Geez, why won't this person blog already? It's been forever!" Huh.

So, with that said, there is no where else to go but UP! Right? I can improve! Right? I will improve! right??? I surely hope so.

Life. It is a many splendid thing. Here is what is happening up here in "the Burg," as my father calls it.

Nothing. Hence why I haven't blogged. Yet, EVERYTHING! Hence why I haven't blogged. Nothing too exciting has been happening, but we have been so busy! So I'll start at the beginning, a very good place to start.

- July - 

My little sister got married! Crazy, but it truly happened. And it was truly beautiful. And I truly forgot my camera. Sheesh. They are such a gorgeous and happy couple. I'm so glad Tom and I set them up. :)

My darling sister-in-law taught Tom and I how to make jam. Our first attempt was freezer jam. Mmmmm, strawberry... Some of it didn't set up quite right, so we used it for syrup on waffles. I wasn't complaining a bit! We also learned how to make homemade yogurt. Who knew it was so easy? It is also very revealing as to how much sugar and other sweeteners actually go into the store bought stuff. It's bitter! But add some jam, and it is delightful.

- August - 

We went to Lagoon! More than once actually. The first time was for Tom's work. He drove a bus of Junior High Students.... Yay. On the plus side, it was a lovely day...

The skies eventually cleared up and we had some fun. And Tom made a new friend.

And then, a few weeks later, we went with Tom's family. It was a lot of fun to be with them. I ended up getting so sick though. I told Tom I couldn't ride that ride, but he talked me into it somehow. Bad news. You can tell I wasn't feeling well by the picture we took on the SkyRide.

Do we not look like we're 10 or something?

WE MOVED!

Outside our old place.
Can you tell we had been moving all day? I can.

Again, you ask? Yes, again. And thank goodness. 

The reason being, we got new jobs! Tom and I are now the Onsite Managers of Brighton Apartments and Townhomes. It's been great so far. We love our new place, our new boss, the new students, etc. Life is pretty good. It's super stressful since we're new and still trying to figure things out, but it has been such a good change for us. This also means I am no longer working at the Marriott. I loved the people I worked with, and I miss them already, but I am so thankful to not work until 11:00pm and never again on Sunday! Hooray! Though working at the nicest hotel in Rexburg had it's perks...

Terrible quality, but yes, that is Jon Schmidt's name on the arrival list. Like, THE Jon Schmidt. The piano player. I will miss being in the loop with the famous people.

P.S. This new job was the very exciting news from my last post that MANY people mistook for a pregnancy announcement. Sorry. Not as exciting for you as a baby would have been, I know.

- September -

Oops... How did that get on here....

What do you do in the Summertime?

Summer is finally here, and you know it because of the hot, HOT weather. We're loving it!

We've been busy little bees here in Rexburg, so excuse my lack of blogging. I'll offer you a little recap on our summer events so far.

To start the summer off, we went to HAWAII! It was so much fun that it deserves it's own dedicated post. That, and there are way too many pictures. But we surely had fun and had a hard time coming back!

Tom and I both participated in our first ever 5K run. Thanks to his sister Marie for the heads up, we signed up and started training, which for me consisted of 3 morning runs. Oops. But we had a lot of fun and plan on improving and doing more races in the future!

A few weekends ago, Rexburg had an air show, free to the public. They have a really neat Flight Museum here at the airport and flew many planes from that exhibit, as well as stunt planes that were hired out. Tom and I joined his Grandma & Grandpa Christensen for a morning of planes, and lots of them. We really enjoyed the opportunity to chat with his Grandpa about the planes. He knows so much! He could tell us the name, year, make, specialties, etc. of nearly every plane that flew that day. He had a lot of fun reminiscing about the days when he owned a plane. We really enjoyed his stories. And the planes of course! 

One day while I was at work, Tom went exploring and happened upon Rexburg's Nature Park. We're not sure the exact name of it, but it is really pretty and out away from things. Except the airport, it's right next to the runway, but that isn't much of a problem in a little town like Rexburg. On my next day off, he took me too and we explored. There were ducks, flowers, bridges, and even a snake! We had fun exploring with Tom's parents' dog Kannoli.

This (^) picture cracked me up. Tom saw two geese on top of this hill sitting on a nest. His curiosity was perked and he tried to get close enough to see if there were really eggs in the nest. Little did he know that Kanolli was wandering around behind that hill, slowly sniffing her way to the top.... HONK HONK!! The geese completely freaked out when Kanolli came up over the hill. They were both so focused on Tom that they didn't see her at all until she was too close for their comfort. Tom let out a squeal and ran for his life. The geese were up on their little webbed feet honking and hissing, guarding whatever was in their nest. Good mommies. Haha

The 4th of July came around and I was just itching to make a decoration or 2. I had Tom take me to Porters, the local craft store, so I could get my supplies. He was such a good sport the whole time. I think we wandered around for over a good hour. Poor kid. At least he finds ways to entertain himself...

But I finally made the right decisions and came home to create my conjured up masterpieces. They aren't perfect and might need some tweaking in the near future, but I was pleased enough to display them in our home.

We didn't do anything special for the holiday. I worked in the morning from 7a-3p, but got paid double time so I didn't complain too much. Afterwards we went to eat with Tom's parents and then just hung around at home. I ended up falling asleep early after my long day at work. (Something about the 4th sure made people grumpy. It was weird.) So instead of watching any fireworks, we listened to them through our open windows. Terribly exciting, right?

I have been working a lot at the hotel, and it has been exhausting. It's difficult being there until 11:00 at night and standing the whole time. I complain a lot to my husband about various things. But, it's good money though, right? The other night, it was so busy and I ran up and down the 4 flights of stairs enough times that I ripped a hole in my shoe... My poor little toe is exposed to the world. Looks like I need some new ones.

We've been very blessed over the past 3 months since moving to Rexburg. We really like the atmosphere of the town and are enjoying our time here. I will admit that it hasn't been all good and dandy. Both of our jobs are stressful and not quite what we want, and our living space is the same (minus the stressful). But, we have received some very, very good news that will change things dramatically for us over the next little while. 

And we're so excited!!

With Love...

February is the month of love, especially at the Chambers home. Well, every month is for newly weds, right? But February is special.

The obvious reason #1 is Valentine's Day. Tom is my one and only Valentine. Ever. Precious, huh? I think so. He's the best Valentine.

I wanted to do lots of nifty crafties to decorate, but I only got to a few. I found a great template online for paper flowers and made a few of those. I never got around to making exactly what I had envisioned for them, but these are my practice ones.



Next year I want to do more of the newspaper and maybe stain them a reddish color. Wouldn't that be pretty? We'll see what happens.

My next projects were my Love and Kisses blocks. My mom and I went and roamed the craft store until we found them. She only attempted the love one though. This picture is before they are completely finished. And, I'll admit, I still don't have them completely finished. It's a work in progress.





The #2 reason for the special month of love is (and it is not number 2 in importance, just on this particular list) OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY! I can hardly believe that Tom and I have been married for over a year now. It's amazing.

And Tom sure did spoil me...



He gave me a Kindle Fire and along with it, he wrote a little diddy about how he wants to forever Kindle the Fire of our love. Mushy stuff. But I love it!

Merry Christmas!

Merry merry Christmas to all! -Yes it has past, but it is still December you know.-
This year was our first Christmas. So precious!
With it being the first, I was determined to do things my way. Well, our way. Which turns out to be my way because Tom said, "Honestly, I couldn't care less what colors are on our tree. I trust you." More or less anyway that is what he said. I had the most difficult time trying to decide how I wanted our tree decorated. Red and gold? Red and white? Blue? Purple? I was seriously stressing about it. But one day, I was on Pinterest and I found some cute DIY ornaments that I wanted to try. I told my mom about it and she was all in for the project too! We had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

If you know my mom at all, she is not super crafty. Don't get that confused with creative though! She certainly is that, but she doesn't care to spend too much time with little craft projects. So I made sure to document this occasion.


They turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. With the exception of one... But luckily this great camera that I have still made it look pretty good. So I'll just let you believe that.


We found our tree on Black Friday at Big Lots of all places. I was hesitant at first, but by the time we got it home and all set up, I was very very pleased with our purchase. I'm so excited to incorporate the pinecones and holly berries -yes, just like the song that will now be stuck in my head.-


Can you see the cuties? I love them. They make our tree unique too.



Christmas was spent with my mom this year. We had a lot of fun both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. She made a lovely dinner on the 24th of Crepes! I adore breakfast for dinner. Nothing is better with crepes than strawberries and whipped cream. But did you know that they also double as a wonderfully moisturizing face mask? My sister enlightened us.


We opened one present that night, then went our way. Christmas morning I was up bright and early with one thing on my mind: Cinnamon Rolls. Tom's family always had a tradition of cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk on Christmas morning. I loved the idea and wanted to try my hand at making them from scratch. They turned out pretty good for a first attempt, thanks to a great recipie from my sister-in-law. And even better, they were a complete surprise for Tom! But I still can't believe he slept through all the clanging pans and other such ruckus from our kitchen.


And so, after opening our presents -mostly empty boxes... we didn't have our mothers around to tell us we couldn't open our presents yet. oops.- we had chocolate milk in our matching Christmas cups and cinnamon rolls. Yum yum.

Many wonderful Christmas memories were made this year, our first year, that we will never forget. The toys and the clothes and the other gifts are all great, but nothing compares to the time spent with family. (Cue photos.)











And beyond family, there is nothing greater than the reason for the season, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger..." Luke 2:7

We got a Christmas card from our Bishopric that had a wonderful quote from President Monson:
"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always."

May you all have the Spirit of Christmas through the coming year.
Merry Christmas!
From: The Chambers.

All Hallows Eve, Turkey Day, and Black Friday

I know Halloween was ages ago, and is such old news, but I'm going to share ours with you anyway. It wasn't too exciting, but we still had fun. We started the Halloween season with my first attempt at making a wreath. I went to the craft store, wandered until I found things I liked, and then went home to put it all together. It wasn't perfect, but I was fairly happy with how it turned out.



We went to the Halloween store hoping to find some ideas for couples costumes. We didn't. But we found some pretty sweet masks instead. Here's Tom with a cigar, because, ya know, that's a pretty common sight.



And I have aged quite a bit since we've been married.



Together forever...



We finally decided on costumes mostly using things we already had in our closets. We are ourselves, in 60 years. Complete with glasses, curlers, and a pot belly.



Trick-or-Treat! -if you know Tom at all, you had better take the treat... :)

This year Thanksgiving was with the Chambers in Rexburg. Tom and I went up the day before and stayed the night at his parents house. Thanksgiving was great with great food, great fun, and great family. Lots of great times. To celebrate at our own little abode, I decided that I wanted to make a Thankful Tree to display our gratitude for all our blessings. First, we needed branches. We journeyed to the cemetery, where there are lots of trees with lots of branches. While we were there, we stopped to feed the squirrels. We thought we would do them a favor by giving them food when it seemed so scarce. I don't think they would have missed us a bit. Wow were those little guys chubby! I know they stock up for the winter and all, but these squirrels impressed me.





I know they aren't the best photos because I only had my phone, but I think you can kind of understand what we saw. If not, use your imagination. After that thrilling event, we gathered our branches and headed home. We were happy with our findings.



We got to work making our Thankful Tree, but not until we warmed up with some hot chocolate. I thought it turned out cute, and we are both excited to make a tradition out of the whole deal. It was also wonderful to sit and contemplate all the things we are thankful for. Our blessings are innumerable. Some examples were our apartment, our education and financial aid for this semester, piano music, unicycles, and of course, each other.



Thanksgiving Day we came back to good old Poky. We had an agenda, and that was Black Friday shopping. We had seen something that we wanted at Wal-Mart that was going on sale at midnight. In order to give us pleanty of time to find it, we went at 10:30 pm. And it was a good thing we did! There were so. many. people!! Yikes. We searched the store for an hour trying to find the items on our list. Finally, about 40 minutes to midnight we found it and jumped in line. We waited, and waited, and waited, and then, they started handing them out. Come to find out, they only had 6 in stock. Luckily, we were 4th in line. No problem there. Once we got it, we made a bee-line for the registers because we knew that would be crazy too. We were right. We made it just before the rush and managed to make it home about 12:20am. Not too shabby. I was thrilled with our purchases! One in particular...



Look at that beauty! Oh, I am in love with it. It is my new pride and joy. Tom was going to surprise me with a camera for Christmas, but he was worried he wouldn't get what I wanted, so he enlisted my help. I was just so happy to finally get such a nice camera. I'm excited to put it to good use! And just in time for our first Christmas.... :)