This goes to show what we do when our brains are fried from studying for finals.
This is a picture of me and Luis at Thanksgiving at the Beavercreek lodge in logan canyon. My generous uncle rented out the entire lodge for our family to enjoy the holiday together. It was so nice to not have to take the long drive to see the family, and instead have them drive to us! I was hoping for a lot of snow to go snowmobiling and have other great adventures; there ended up being just a little snow, but we were glad there wasn't more so that everyone was able to arrive safely (count your blessings, right?) We had such a fun, relaxing time with the 50+ people that made it. We wish everyone could have made the trip. We love our uncle Rob!

We shared a room with my sister's family. This is her little cutie that didn't sleep so well, but is just so adorable, we couldn't stand to hold a grudge. It was so easy to make her laugh. What could boost your self esteem any more than being able to make a toddler laugh?

This is our first nephew! He is such a lady killer already! It was so fun to see him for the first time and see him smile constantly. Here is Cash looking on intently at the gift he was given for an early Christmas present. Makes me laugh...

an update

We finished another semester! And my was it a long one! I have not posted for a while because of the crazy 12 and 14 hour days in the library! We are so thrilled to be done and we can finally embark on the Christmas spirit. We leave for home tomorrow and are so excited to not have to worry about getting assignments done or getting exams taken for 3 weeks! Yahoo!!! We are fortunate to spend the holidays with both my family and Luis'. One thing I am super excited about is getting away from this -11 degree weather! It is just too cold when your nose hairs freeze as soon as you step outside and you feel like you have to sneeze.

I have one semester left (hopefully the easiest one) and Luis has 2 more left. I think we are finally beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel, only to see another long tunnel ahead of that (gradute school!) I will post pictures of our recent adventures within a few days. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Christmas season!

Life in the Fast Lane

So the past few months have been a bit busier than expected. We had our 7 week break from school which was much needed (especially for Luis, he has been in school the past 3 semesters). The first week my momma came for a visit and we showed her the amazing town of Rexburg. Having her stay with us made Luis and I realize how much we like to play the part of host and hostess. We got to do a session in the Rexburg temple which was the first time my mom was able to do a session here. We spent time with my brother Chad and his family and really just enjoyed being together.

The second week we went home to visit our families. While we were there we went camping in Belfair with Luis' family and then drove north and camped at Deception Pass with some of my family. The sites were beautiful and nothing quite beats spending time with family. We then came home for a couple of days and then went camping at Bear Lake with other members of my family, a past roommate, and other friends. My sister came from Denver to spend the weekend with us and are so glad she did! Her baby Jane is getting so big and cute (even in the dark...). We were lucky enough to go on 2 different boats and spend time on the lake wakeboarding and tubing. Now that's a vacation! I don't have any pictures now, but hopefully they will come soon.

After the fun times, we had to get to work. I finished my applications for PA school and am currently waiting to hear back from the schools. We both studied for the GRE and took it during the first week of the fall semester. Now that school has started back up, life has gotten pretty busy. Luis has been doing GREAT on all of his exams so far. I am so proud of him and am so fortunate to be married to such a hard worker. We both really enjoy the classes we are in (surprising that I'm enjoying Biochemistry as much as I am) and luckily we both like to stay busy. Luis is starting on his applications to graduate schools for Psychology and has recently looked into the idea of getting into a Political Science program (more power to him). Luis is now the assistant Executive Secretary and I am the nursery leader of our ward. We are excited to learn new things in these posititions. Any ideas for nursery will be gladly accepted...

I am so grateful for the many blessings that Luis and I share together. I have recently been realizing how blessed we truly are. We have wonderful family who supports us and is always there for us. We have a car that works (at least this month), a cozy apartment, wonderful neighbors, a great ward, and the chance to gain an education (to name a few). Our lives are so simple and although money is always tight, we love to see how frugil we can be. Life has been running so smooth lately that we are trying to anticipate a disaster. We hope life stays this good for as long as possible.

The only picture we got of the beautiful views at Bear Lake (doesn't do it justice)
Us on the bridge at Deception Pass

At Belfair enjoying the campfire...

Luis is so photogenic!

One Year and Counting

That's right! For all of you that didn't think we'd make it this far, WE MADE IT! We have officially been married for one whole year and are loving it! I am more and more amazed each and every day at the things Luis does to make me smile. I swear he just keeps getting funnier! We have accomplished many things together in this past year including:

-2 semesters each with a full-time load

-Went to General Conference in the new conference center in Salt Lake City

-Visited my sister and her family for Thanksgiving in Denver, Colorado (beautiful place)

-I completed an amazing internship at Leavitt Women's Healthcare

-Luis achieved a full-ride scholarship with his academic accomplishments

-We finished the full series of Friends (this wasn't easy to do)

-We are both currently in the process of applying to graduate programs

-I completed my first half-marathon

-We went camping in Yellowstone, Belfair State park, Deception Pass, and at Bear Lake

-We have made friends with incredible people in Rexburg

-Luis has served as the second counselor in the sunday school presidency, and has a new calling in the works (later post)

-I am currently serving as a nursery leader and am loving it!

-We still love each other!

This next year is going to bring a lot of change with it. We are both graduating in April of next year and we have no idea where graduate schools will take us, or what challenges we may have to encounter, but we know it is more fun (and interesting) when we do it together. May this next year be an exciting and successful one!

All I can think about

So my mom is coming into town in a few days and I almost feel that I need a bigger house to clean so that I can stay distracted until she gets here. I am so excited to show her my apartment and how small it is. I am excited to play games with more than just me and Luis. Late at night we've been playing a lot of Yahtzee, Rummy, and Sequence. They are all fun and each time we play is a new adventure. But the rotation of three games gets kind of old, especially playing with the same two people every time. So...any ideas? Any games that are on the cheaper end? HELP!!!

Our summer is coming...

So it's been a while since we have posted anything, and since it's the weekend before finals I am getting tired of studying and so now is the perfect time to blog. Only three days this next week and we get a 7 week break! Well, a break from some things, but not from all. Luis is taking 2 online religion classes, we are both studying for the GRE (our plan is at least 4 hours a day), I am applying to PA school (scary!!!), I hope to shadow a few PAs in town, and we both hope to have a little bit of fun on this break. We are going home the first week of August to visit family and friends and are so excited! We get to go camping for a few days with some of my family and go kayaking! And this is the perfect week to go home because Luis' mom has that week off from work. And before we leave, my mom is flying in this saturday to enjoy the wonders of Rexburg. I am so excited to take her through the temple, show her the cool parks around here, and have her meet some really amazing people.

During the 4th of July, we had a four day weekend and so decided to visit Yellowstone for the first time. Our friend John came along and he made the trip even more fun. We wanted to camp in the park, but it was full (on a wednesday night!!) So we decided to camp down this long road that supposedly had campgrounds at the end of it. We never reached the end of that road, so we just camped for free. Fine by me! So here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Reaching a Goal...

This past month has been pretty busy, but today I figured it was time to update the blog...

So today I finally did it! I ran my first half marathon! I was a little hesitant to tell people about it just because I didn't want to end up telling people I didn't follow through. I started training in February with the mindset of running the half today. But once school started in April, my time to train got a lot more limited. Homework all of a sudden has taken up a lot of my time. Go figure?! And...a few weeks after school had started, my running buddy got pregnant! So there went almost all of my motivation to do the race. So my training became 3-4 days a week. A few weeks ago I ran into a lady from my ward that has 3 kids. One is about 5 and the others are a set of twins about 2. Her and this other lady with a child said they were registered for the race and told me I should just do it. And so the next day I gave into that peer pressure and signed up. I figured that if 2 people that have young children find time to train, then I shouldn't be making excuses. After signing up I had 2 more weeks to train. I thought I would step it up a bit, but I definently stepped it down! This week I ran one other time besides today. My goal was to get under 2 hours and to not stop running. Let's just say I stopped a couple of times, but I reached my goal of under 2 hours! I do not have my official time yet, but it was around 1:48 and took 4th place in the age group 18-24. I hope to find out how many that was out of and let you know in the next post. I was very happy with that time knowing how unprepared I was. I wish I could do that with tests! But running this half marathon has helped me realize that I am halfway to my goal of running a marathon 'someday'. I have always wanted to run a full marathon, but have never been diligent or motivated enough to actually dedicate myself to train for one. But now that I am halfway there, I just might be able to do it. So these same 2 ladies want to run the full Top of Utah marathon in September. Word has it that 20 of the miles is downhill and you drop 1,000 feet throughout it. Sounds like the best one to do to me!!! So let the real training begin...

Thank-you Luis for being okay with late dinners, sometimes making the dinners, and being there for me at the finish line. The biggest thing any runner needs is support, and I am so lucky to have that. Maybe someday Luis will run next to me...'someday'...

This is me and my prego friend Lisa. Even though she didn't end up running the half, she helped me train (as much as I did). She is 15 weeks pregnant and did the 10k! Go Lisa!

And here is a really nice girl that let me run with her. Before I met up with her, I was doing a horrible job pacing myself. I would run and then have to stop and catch my breath. But when I just made myself slow down a little bit and run next to her, I didn't have to stop. Let me just say that running with someone after 8 miles by yourself is a MUST!

This is a post by Luis.

One day we wanted to play a game. And then Valerie suggested Yahtzee. So we played. I won the first game, and then I won the second game. Valerie got so mad that she refused to count her score. So being the stubborn man that I am, I had to know what her score was. She went into the bathroom and I asked, "HEY! Did you throw it away?" And she said "Why don't you look around!" So I looked around, and finally found it in the toilet. What a sore loser! More importantly, she got a score of 128.

Here are the beautiful flowers Luis got me for being together for 3 years.

You Think You're Fat!!!!!

I saw this post on Sunday Baker (one of my new favorite blogs) and had to post my favorites.

Just around the Corner...

A couple of days this week it has been gorgeous here in Rexburg. It was so nice that I couldn't let it pass me by. So before Luis got home, I decided to surprise him by putting together our BBQ that we got at Wal-Mart in the winter for under $20! There were a few more pieces than what I was expecting so when Luis got home he saw the BBQ, but not all in one piece. I was so excited for our first time using it and was all ready to go when Luis asked if I had gotten charcoal and lighter fluid (minor detail). So one more trip to the store wasn't so bad. And once the coals were hot enough, dinner was ready :) Sadly it is raining today, but it is nice to see that summer is just around the corner...

BABY JANE!!!

A few weekends ago I went to Denver to celebrate the birth of my newest niece...Jane Marie Olsen. My mom says that she looks like me, (yes!!!). Since Natalie was a bit sore still, Zach was our tour guide. He took us to see downtown Denver and then we went on an awesome and beautiful hike in Boulder. I would have taken pictures, but my camera was out of batteries. Luis wasn't able to make the trip because he couldn't miss his classes. But I loved seeing my family (most of them anyway...). Jane was so sweet and it was so fun to see my niece Jaedyn be so interested in her. I can hardly wait to see Jane and her parents in another week when we go to Vancouver to see our families during the week break in between semesters. This past semester has been pretty busy for Luis, and decently busy for me. I am curious to see how we manage our time when we are both in school in a couple of weeks. I have a feeling that I won't want to make a homemade meal every night, but Luis likes to cook, so it shouldn't be so bad.

Baby stuff

A weekend project that I was excited to do. This is a wipes case that I made for my sister in-law Summer. I hope she likes it...I'm actually happy with how it turned out. Those fabric yo-yos are a new favorite of mine :) I'm gonna start making them for my family's card group!

My DAYS off

Having a semester off from school with no job hasn't been the easiest thing for me to handle because I love to be busy. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays I have the privilege of going to Angela's work and shadowing her to see what being a PA at an OB/GYN office is all about. I have LOVED every part of the way. But the other 4 days of the week I find a lot of extra time. So here is my latest project. My first baby blanket without my mom right there beside me (just on the phone...hahaha). Don't look too close...

there's a leak!

So we had a small leak in our roof. But this didn't stop Luis from using his regular study spot on the couch, hence the jacket. Just kidding. The truth is, Luis usually gets home from a 10 hour day at school and starts right back up again. I just couldn't help noticing that he hadn't even taken his jacket off yet before he opened his exciting book on the history of psychology :)

Some more pictures...

Just a little inside peak at how Chad will always out-do our attempt to be funny...

I know we have almost been married 6 months, but it's never to late to start a blog, right? This was our first picture taken of us after we were married in the portland temple. The day couldn't have been more perfect with our families and friends. We are truly blessed to have such a great support system. Thank-you to everyone that made this day such a success.

Thank you Passion for being my flower girl!