Goodbye Provo

In the middle of December I had my last day at work and we packed up and said goodbye to Provo.  We've left Provo many times, but we've always come back.  It felt weird great knowing that our time there was coming to an end.  We enjoyed Provo- it's where we met, made many fun memories, and met wonderful friends that we hope to always keep in touch with!  But we've both been living in Provo for a while now and we were ready to move on.

                                                       P caught gaming rather than packing

Leaving work was bitter sweet for me.  I started as an intern at Utah Valley University, in their Wellness programs, back in the Fall of 2009.  I worked there from Sept-Dec and then we moved to California for 6 months.

I was lucky enough to come back and finish my internship there, in Sept 2010. In Dec, my internship hours were finished and I started working there part-time.  I've been at UVU, working in their Wellness Programs, since then and it has been a great job.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to use my degree to educate the students and faculty at UVU about health and wellness.  One of my favorite things that I had the opportunity to do there was coach clients in Intuitive Eating.  It was so rewarding to work with someone and watch them make a behavior change.

I'm grateful to my boss, Amy, who was always so flexible (letting me leave in the summer, work from Arkansas, come back to UVU, etc) and I'm grateful to have met a great friend there, my co-worker Becca- I already miss her tons!

                            Last day of work :(                                                           Amy, me, Becca

My College Grad

Between Christmas, moving, and BYU not having a commencement ceremony for December grads,  I feel like P's graduation from BYU was a little unnoticed.  Thought I better at least document it on our blog!

P has graduated with his bachelors in Finance from the BYU Marriott School of Business.  I'm so proud of him for all of his hard work and determination to finish and do well in school.

Did you know he almost chose to study pre-med and become a doctor?  Before his mission he took a bunch of courses (at Snow College, University of Utah, and Iowa Sate) to go the pre-med route.  After his mission, he decided do pursue a different career path, and chose business.  His decision to study business (along with his decision to attend BYU after his mission) added a couple of years to his college experience, but we're happy he chose the course he did.  And I'm so happy he came to BYU so we could meet!

Congrats babe! No more studying from 8am-11pm in the Tanner (I'm not sure who is more excited about this one, me or him!) 

 Love you P!

Toffee Christmas Tradition

I wrote this post for my best friend Synth, to post on her awesome blog called Igniting Creativity.  She posts recipes and other fun ideas from people who have ignited creativity in her (such a fun idea for a blog).  She asked me to write about a favorite recipe of mine and tell who has ignited creativity in me.  I decided to post what I wrote on my blog too because I want my posterity to know that this toffee is a Christmas tradition.

Toffee

 (don't be mislead by the name! If you are like me and you don't enjoy traditional toffee, the kind that's super hard and crunchy, don't worry, this does not taste like that, I promise!)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a large cookie sheet with foil.  Heavily grease foil with lots of butter.
Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers, salt side up.

Mix the following together in a saucepan, then cook on medium/high until it comes to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Stirring constantly.
1 cup real butter (no substitutions)
1 cup brown sugar

Pour the above mixture over the crackers, spread around (it will start to thicken).
Put in oven for 5 minutes (watch it because you don't want the crackers to brown too much on the edges or burn).  Remove and cool for a second.
Pour 1 bag of chocolate chips (I use less than 1 bag) on top and spread around until all the crackers have chocolate on them.
Put sliced almonds or any kind of nut you like on top. (optional)
Let cool (place in freezer or outside if you're in a hurry) and then break up the crackers into small pieces.

I chose this recipe because it reminds me of Christmas time and my mom.  I remember helping my mom make this recipe every Christmas.  She taught me how to make it (even though it's super easy) and we gave it away to neighbors and friends.  That is, if I didn't eat all of it!  It's super addicting!  

My mom has ignited creativity in me by always encouraging me to "Dream Big."  She always taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to-- which I actually learned was true in college!  She was right, but moms are always right, right?  And although I wouldn't consider myself a very creative person, I truly believe (thanks to her) that I can achieve any dream I have- with hard work and determination, of course!

Here's to our future!

After months of interviews (this whole process started in September), with ten different companies, we finally decided on a company!  

It's definitely not who we thought P would be working for- but we've learned that life often surprises you and this was definitely a surprise (a good surprise).  And even though this company wasn't on our radar at first (he almost turned down the fly out interview,  so glad he didn't!) we feel very blessed to be a part of a great company and to have a secure future.

Come June - yes he doesn't start until June! - we will be calling Michigan home, Midland Michigan to be exact.

And P will be working for......

DOW Chemical!

We are both so happy to finally know where and what we will be doing.  I decided it was necessary that we celebrate by toasting to our future, with a little sparkling cider, of course.

Notice anything funny out this first picture?

We had to do a re-do photo the next day because I forgot to draw the letters backward so they would spell DOW instead of WOD! oops!

That's better! 

Since we have a few months until we start we'll be vacationing on a tropical island until June......ha! I wish! This was my idea, but I was informed by P that unfortunately we don't have enough money for that!  But we are hoping to visit Thailand for a bit before P starts work (we've been planning this for a while and are happy that it seems to be working into our plans just right).

We'll also be moving back to Centerville to live with my parents until we start in June.  I'll be working for my Dad, and P will be studying and prepping for the GMAT/hopefully finding some kind of work to keep him saine.

We are so so excited for this next chapter in our life.

Life Lately

Thanksgiving break came and went, but it was such a nice break!  Here's a best and worst of the thanksgiving break and the first weeks of December.
Best
-stuffing ourselves with thanksgiving yumminess
-sleeping in and working out all but one or maybe two days (quite an achievement for me since I usually don't work out on vacation)
-spending time with family, visiting with my mom's sister, Lisa, who came into town to see Grandma for the last time (we hardly see her or her family since they live in Alabama)
-going to the movies with some of the fam, saw Hugo, a great family feel-good film!
-helping Mom decorate the christmas tree
-a quick catch-up with a best friend
-hanging with Melis, who was in town
-shellac gel nails with my aunts and cousin nicki, awesome
-watching Matt perform in RENT- he's a superstar, he had 5 or more parts and he did all the costumes for the show
-finally deciding what job P will be working for and where we will be living!!!!


Worst
-getting a call late saturday night that Grandma was possibly dying.  She didn't end up passing, but we hope she will soon since she's not doing well and we don't want her to suffer any longer
-having to come back to provo/real life after vacation
-the crazy wind storm that hit Bountiful and my hometown Centerville, 102 mile per hour winds, lots of damage and the city is practically tree-less. Well at least when it came to pine trees, those suckers just seem to blow right on over, roots and everything, when you get a lot of wind! 

movie time, 3D style

matt and jod

after Matt's performance

This was just the damage near our house. Our back fence was missing some panels, and the huge tree next door blew over.  There was a lot more damage spanning Bountiful and Centerville that I wanted to photograph but didn't get the chance, so crazy! 

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm a believer in being thankful and counting your blessings all year round, but I do enjoy the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday each November.  And not only for the food, but also for the extra time to think about how blessed we all are.

Things we are thankful for in 2011.......

Jess...

A loving Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, the knowledge I have about where I came from, where I'm going and what I can become.  This knowledge comes from my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My husband-for the way he makes me laugh, puts up with my many moods, and shows me so much affection and love in his own little way.

Health.  Especially when I have multiple family members who are currently struggling with their health. I have two grandmas who are not doing so well. One just got out of the hospital yesterday, one is currently in the hospital (she went in yesterday), and my cousin Jake is also in the hospital with an infection! 

Family and Friends- for their constant love, support, and example.

Job offers- we have been so blessed with multiple offers, which P has worked so hard to get.  I'm grateful I can feel secure and confident about our future because he is such a hard worker.  

Food, clothing, shelter, warm beds, warm showers, washer and dryer, clean water to drink

My job-I've been blessed to have a job to help support us while P finishes school.

Freedom- so grateful to live in America

Porntepp... (transcribed by jess, I'm sure he meant these in no particular order (seeing how elmo's voice made the #2 spot), but this is the way they came out of his mouth)
Jess
Elmo's voice- he's on an elmo kick lately, meaning he likes to impersonate elmo's voice.  Each morning I'm greeted by elmo saying, "Welcome to Monday, Welcome to Tuesday, Welcome to Wednesday, etc... I think you get the point, never a dull moment with P.
Thanksgiving
Family
The Gospel

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful family and friends, we love you!

Looking forward to eating this amazing pie my brother Matt made (he makes our pies every year, he's got major pie making talent!)

Recently we've been....

-Trying hard to live and enjoy life now, rather than wishing the next months could fly by and we'd know more about our future
-Me-still working at UVU, P-preparing for interviews, interviewing, and studying for his classes in between
-Supporting Ty in his play "You Can't Take it With You"

Ty and me after his performance, it was awesome Ty, so proud of you!

-Spending lots of time at my parent's house and with Momma Phyllis
-Visiting Grandma Annie as much as I can while Mom is gone.

 picture taken in June 2010

-Eat lots of Halloween candy....still, even though the holiday ended 2 weeks ago!
-Flying around the country (P only, not me)....Atlanta, San Fran, L.A., Minnesota, Michigan, Seattle
-Making too many trips to the airport (see above)
-Still doing Zumba (and loving it) also trying out Yoga (not very good at it but I'm enjoying the good stretching that goes on in a yoga class)
-Talking lots about our future and what career will be best for our family
-Making dinner at home and transporting it to BYU so that I can eat it with my husband while he studies
(I think we've only eaten twice at our apartment this whole semester!)
-Trying to get used to life at home without the internet-it's terrible!  For some reason the internet at our apartment will not work on my computer, so frustrating!!  And P always takes his computer with him so once I get home from work I don't have any access to the internet.  Thus my lack of blogging.  I wish I could say I've been more productive at home without the internet, but sadly it's probably not true.  I have made dinner most nights and finished one craft so I'll count that as productive.
-Looking forward to the Holidays (it snowed a ton yesterday!) and spending time with extended family
-Enjoying as much time with family now since we know in 2012 we will not be living in Utah.  We know we're moving out of UT, just not sure where to yet.

Vegas for Justin's Wedding

Back in May we went to Vegas for Justin's homecoming from his mission.  In October we went for Justin's Wedding!   Don't worry, Justin and JayCee have been dating since high school so when he got home from his mission I think we all expected marriage to happen soon, and that it did.  Five months later and they were married!  JayCee is beautiful and so sweet, we're happy she is now in the fam.

I was lucky enough to go down to Vegas on Wednesday night with my family.  P was able to fly in on Friday night just in time for the wedding on Saturday morning.  I was so grateful he was able to come because he really needed a little break from school/studying and weddings just aren't as fun without your husband by your side!

Here are the pics from the Wedding Dinner.  P wasn't there for this, but he flew in later that night.

P was in Atlanta on Thursday and Friday for an interview.  Unfortunately it wasn't his best interview, and he had been practicing since September for this interview so it was a big bummer.  But we picked him up from the airport and went to the Vegas strip so he could drown his sorrows shopping at the huge H&M.  I'm not sure that it helped, but he did find some dress pants that are smoking hot so I think it was alright.  Later that night we ate tongue tacos and beef head tacos- yum!  They actually had really good flavor, just don't watch them cut up the huge tongue before they place it in your taco, that was kind of disgusting!

 P, and cousins Ty, Jeff, and Scott

Stick out your tongue if you love tongue tacos!! Melis missed the memo :)

Cousin Melis, brother Matt, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Jodi and cousin Dominic

Saturday was the big wedding in the Las Vegas Temple.  Later that night was the reception at a cute little ranch.  It included fun dancing (as well as some entertaining people watching), lots of eating delicious treats and sipping some hot cocoa.

The gorgeous couple with Justin's parents (my aunt and uncle) and his brother Jordan and sister Haylee.

 Matt, Errin, and I stuffing our faces.    First dance as a married couple!    Us with the Bride and Groom!

Mom, Dad, Jake and Uncle Brian tearing up the dance floor :)

Cousin Love

At the end of the reception they had a little surprise.  Two motorcyclists performed a show in that big cage on the left.  Then things got even more exciting when they had Justin and Jaycee get in the cage while the two motorcyclist went around them!  SCARY!  It was pretty intense, I heard she was most worried about her dress though :) definitely a bride thing and her dress was gorgeous so I don't blame her!

It was such a fun weekend.  I absolutely love spending time with my family and extended family.  I feel so blessed to be part of such a close family.  And although our family is crazy and chaotic at times (i.e. Aunt Lisa yelling right outside the Temple doors when it took us all 30+ minutes to decide where to eat) I love them and wouldn't trade them for any other family in the world. 

Congrats Justin and JayCee, your wedding was beautiful and we're so happy to have you in our family JayCee.

The following pics I stole from Melis, thanks Melis!

The Wall Fam

Wedding, Bridal Shower, Babies & Family Time

Back in August I went to my friend Elise's wedding reception, we grew up on the same street and in the same ward, her family is one of my favorites!  She looked so stunning.  I went to the reception with Synth and it was so much fun to catch up with each other (I had just returned home from Arkansas).  Her and I had a fun little talk about getting married, it was great!

Candace and I hosted a Bridal Shower for Synth, I didn't get too many pictures and the ones I got were blurry (I didn't even get one of her and I together, what was I thinking?!) but I do love this one of Synth and Carly.  Carly made her this darling apron.

Excited or nervous to see what's in that box!!?

A couple of weekends ago we got to play with these cuties. They loved jumping from the couch to the ottoman.  First they would roar like a bear or some animal (maybe like the cougar in the background? Yes that cougar is displayed in our family room, I guess you could say my Dad is proud of it) and then they would dive head first onto the ottoman.  It was so fun and funny to watch.

They are so cute and I love watching P play with them. He's going to be such a great dad in the future :)

My cousin Melissa came into town for Conference Weekend.  It was great to see her and to be with her family who was also in town.  I miss hanging out with all of the Bigelow boys; we got to see Jeff who just came home from his mission, and Blake and Scott.  Scott told P and I about his new girlfriend and it made us laugh our heads off, he is hilarious.  We celebrated Nana's b-day and P and I even got a turn wearing the b-day hat too since we were gone back in June for our b-days.

That's all, and I think this is about the most random post I've ever written.

Synthia's Wedding

This past weekend I attended my best friend's wedding.  Synthia and I have been friends since we both moved into the same ward/neighborhood back in 2001.  I love her to pieces and I am so blessed to have had her as my friend growing up.  She has always been an example to me of Christ-like love.  She is selfless, kind, loving and always looking out for the well-being of others.   She is loved by everyone who comes into contact with her because of her loving nature which makes you feel like you are the most important person.  Matt, her husband, is such a lucky guy :)  and even though I don't know him that well, I can tell that he is an amazing guy and they will make a great couple.  Thanks for letting me share in your special day, Synth, it was such a wonderful day!

The wedding reception was the night before, I spent most of my time helping out at the sign-in book.  The reception was in her back yard and it was gorgeous, I wish I would have taken more pictures of the yard and decor.  The weather was great until the sun went down and then it got windy and chilly.  But it was still a beautiful reception.

Some of my family at the reception- minus P, Zach (who had already left), Cris and Matt (who had his tonsils out this morning so he couldn't come, bummer!)

The gorgeous couple!

After the reception, Candace and I helped her out of her dress, which by the way was gorgeous!!  She looked so stunning, her hair, make-up, dress, everything. She looked so so beautiful!

Because she wasn't leaving for her honeymoon (the actual wedding ceremony was the next day) the clothes that she had to change into were the same ones she had worn over to her parent's house earlier that day to prepare for the wedding reception.  They were these crazy, baggy, comfy pants from Jerusalem.  She wore them as a dress (because she couldn't find an undershirt) and she looked so cute, I just had to take a picture, even though you can't tell they are pants in this photo! And I love that she's still wearing her veil.

Friday, was the wedding ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple.  It was beautiful, I'd never been to a sealing in the SLC temple and I was so grateful to be there.  Thanks to Candace and her husband for helping me get my temple recommend (I realized late Thursday night, after the reception, that I had left my temple recommend down in Provo, whoops).  Thank you, thank you, Candace for saving me!

Again, she was absolutely stunning!

Later that day was the luncheon.  And then we helped her out of her dress one last time and she was off on her honeymoon to Hawaii!!

Both days were so wonderful, everything was perfect and I am so happy for you Synth!
I did miss my husband, who wasn't able to come to any of the festivities because of school and interviews, wish you could have been there babe!

Shrimp Etouffee

P offered to fix us dinner tonight, and I obviously wasn't going to turn him down on that offer.  When I sat down at the table I just laughed and had to take a picture.  P is a really good cook, he doesn't cook very often but when he does I'm always impressed at how well he can throw ingredients together to make a meal (he doesn't like to follow recipes).  And I'm always impressed by how he presents his meals.  Totally opposite of how I present my meals....

He presents the food beautifully, always putting it on my plate for me and I don't present it at all, I make him dish up his own plate from the pan!

 I think I can take some lessons from him, I mean just look at that plate, doesn't it look like something you'd get from a fancy restaurant.  The shrimp on top of the perfectly rounded mound of rice makes me laugh, and the cilantro garnish, it's just lovely!  Now if only he had time to cook for me more often, like on the weekdays, but I'll take what I can get!

Oh and incase you are wondering how it tasted, it was absolutely delicious.  Sometimes I feel bad for him that he has to eat my boring meals, sorry babe!