The Best of 2016

JANUARY

After what seemed like an eternity I graduated my LPN program.

...and ran a 5K in St. George with my Mom and Aunt Toni.

FEBRUARY

Passed my state boards and became a licensed nurse!

Nathan and I road tripped it to Arches National Park and familiarized ourselves with what our license plate picture looks like in real life. It was pretty cool.

MARCH

Easter party at Grandma Greene's. 

APRIL

Flew out to San Diego for Nathan's brother's wedding and got to go to Disneyland, my favoritest place in the whole world.

MAY

Nathand and I rode horses together out by Utah Lake and tried not to get eaten alive by bugs.

We journeyed to Logan and went to visit the Temple.

JUNE

Partied it up with the girls in Salt Lake.

Tara and Clark had their reception in my parent's backyard and I got to be the florist :)

...and it wouldn't be June without the Strawberry Days Rodeo!

JULY

We went to Kauai with my mom's side of the family and spent 10 days bumming around on the beach.

And fulfilled our lifelong dream of going to the Fiesta Days Rodeo with Ashley and Alex.

AUGUST

Almost got bucked off this horse, but I survived.

SEPTEMBER

Laguna Beach and Disneyland with all the girls.

OCTOBER

Camping up AF Canyon with our friends.

Had to say goodbye after nearly four years and three different titles (Therapy Aide, CNA and finally nurse) to American Fork Stonehenge! I made so many wonderful friends there and I will miss them forever.

Moved to Ogden and discovered the Burger Bar and their delicious fried mushrooms.

NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving in Driggs and a visit to Jackson Hole.

DECEMBER

Christmas in our new home :)

....and added a new puppy to our family!

Meet Melon the Puppy Dog

Whelp. Our puppy fever finally overcame us and we got ourselves a dog! His name is Melon. He's a pomeranian mixed with something else (we have no idea, haha).

He's the cutest little fluff ball that ever did live.

Awww, ain't he precious? I just love him.

I never did foresee Nathan and I getting a puppy but there's a lot of things in life I don't foresee that end up happening anyway, so here we are. I guess we are dog people now!

I got this strange desire to start embroidery over Christmas and so I've been working on all these little squares to turn into a sweet quilt eventually! I am pretty amateur but it's a very relaxing way to pass the time.

I feel like working as a nurse hurts my brain so much. I just need activities where I can come home and not exercise too much brain power. That's why I download mindless iPhone games like Farmville. It's my way of winding down. 

Also guess what! On December 29th Nathan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! Can you believe it, FOUR YEARS. Wow.

We used to be such babies. Marriage has been one of the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding things in life. I am so grateful for Nathan and all that he does for me. He takes good care of me and puts up with my sometimes difficult personality. He also loves me and I couldn't ask for much more than that!

Keep the Change Ya Filthy Animal

Another December has flown by! Can't believe we are already two days post Christmas. My favorite month of the year has come and gone once again.

 Let us reminisce on all the good times we had.

Nathan finished his first semester of his Agriculture Diesel Mechanics program. Here's the tractor him and Buck have been working on all fall. Many a pair of pants have been ruined working on this project and so I have banned Nathan from wearing any nice clothes to school ever again.

Murphles! My sisters suuuper cute puppy Murphy. He is getting SO big. He literally triples in size every week. Hanging out with this guy has made me want a puppy REALLY bad. Our apartment actually allows pets which makes the temptation seem like it could turn into a real decision. We will see.

Luminaria! We went with my family to see this AMAZING light show at Thanksgiving point a few weeks ago. My first thought was $20 a person?!?!??! Holy crap no way it can be that good.

But let me tell you. It WAS that good.

I seriously felt like I was in Disneyland it was so magical. I would recommend it to everyone. I won't even bother trying to describe it because I can't possibly do it justice. All I can say is it was really, really cool.

Like this is the view you get when you first walk into it. It was definitely the coolest light display I've ever been to. It makes all those drive through things look pathetic.

Another Luminaria pic. It was sooo cool I can't get over it.

My parent's cats love to make nests with all the Christmas decorations and presents. Buttercup seriously sat on that present for hours and hours. So cute.

Throwback to last year when my cat made a nest out of tinsel. I love it.

Another light display that pictures can do no justice for. The fire/police station down the road from our apartment went all Clark Griswold on us and decorated every single tree in different colored lights! We went and got McDonalds and sat and stared at them while we ate french fries. It was wonderful.

Christmas Eve we drove out to my Grandma's house and ate dinner and played Christmas Bingo. Which is my new favorite tradition. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins gathered in my grandma's kitchen and we played probably like 50 rounds of Bingo. My uncle Bean bought a bunch of way sweet prizes so we were all feeling competitive. I of course did not win ONCE. That's what you get for being loyal to the same stupid Bingo card! I will have to devise a new strategy for next year, or get some more luck or something.

I got a polaroid camera for Christmas and so the only pictures I have from actual Christmas Day are these haha! We made it out like bandits however. I got the best present I could've asked for from Santa Claus....

Drum roll please....

TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND!!!! Haha I couldn't believe it but Nathan and I got 3 day park hoppers to my favorite place in the world and I could not be more excited! Now we just have to plan when we want to go.

I am so grateful for this time of year because of all the time we get to spend with our family and friends and all the fun traditions and activities we get to get out and do!

But mostly I am grateful for the Savior and that he was born and lived and died for me and you.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's here, it's here! The most wonderful month of the whole year!

As usual I jumped the gun and set up my Christmas tree prior to Thanksgiving. Whoops.

I would set up a thousand Christmas trees if I could. I love this time of year and all that it entails.

And no Christmas would truly be Christmas without setting up my Grandma Abbott's Christmas Shelves! I have been sacrificing my thumbs to tack on each piece of tinsel and all the lights to that dang thing for many years now.

Her shelves are truly iconic. If they aren't set up before December 1st then neighbors will knock on her door and ask her what's going on. So as to not disappoint the neighborhood we had to make sure they got put up in a timely manner.

Also have to make sure her banister gets decorated. Not pictured are all the nativities, stockings and downstairs tree. It is an all day event, but I love it.

In other news we went up to Driggs for Thanksgiving, and seeing as how Jackson Hole is only on the other side of the mountain we decided to visit there as well. It was nice to spend some time with Nathan's family. We ate a lot of pie and played many rounds of scum.

Folks, meet Murphy. My sisters adorable puppy! He is so cute and I have been wanting a puppy really bad lately, but then I think of how I would have to take it out to the bathroom all the time, and then I don't want one so much.

More Christmas themed posts to come soon!

Fall Activities

A couple weeks before we officially moved we were able to go camping with our friends up American Fork Canyon.

Aren't those leaves just spectacular? We were finally able to use our tent we bought like three years ago, haha. The best part I think was eating Better with Cheddar hot dogs, drinking cold sodas and shooting the breeze with good company around the campfire. I miss my friends so dearly!

It was my littlest brother's birthday a couple days ago and he turned 16! Gosh I can't believe that. I remember when I turned 16, I had a poetry reading birthday party complete with cheese tasting. My quarterback brother is obviously a lot less nerdy than I am and so no poetry reading parties for him. I can't believe he is old enough to drive now, I remember when I could still pick him up and carry him around! Now he's taller than me. He had a football game this weekend up by our home in Ogden and so we were able to meet my parents there and watch it. Nice to finally have some visitors up here in the great white north.

Just a little throwback to gain perspective on how little he used to be! My siblings would all murder me if they knew I had posted this picture. Whatever.

While we're on the topic of throwing it back, here's a Halloween picture of me circa 1996

Work it, girl.

Ok I'm so mad. I only got ONE trick or treater!!!! How pathetic is that?! I mean I freakin bought an entire bag of kit kats and had to eat them all myself because no one came to claim them. I've never been more disappointed.

Out With the Old

Well people. Nathan and I have officially moved up north. We had to say goodbye to the cutest little basement apartment we called home for 3.5 years and I may have shed a tear or two.

It is strange how what you want in life vs. what God has in mind for your life are often very different things. Ogden definitely wasn't on my list of places to live, but neither were Idaho or the midwest. Someone must have a sense of humor because I can check off all three of those places now.

Annnywayyy. The above picture was my very last day of work! My coworkers were so sweet to me and got me flowers, treats, cards and this 'trader' cake (it's actually supposed to say 'traitor' but.... Wal Mart haaa). 

I really like our new apartment but it doesn't feel like home yet. It doesn't smell like us either. I've been burning pumpkin spice candles 'round the clock and I still walk in here and it smells like a hotel. Aseptic. Like it's just not 'us' yet. 

We've been trying to take advantage of the fact we're in a new place and explore the local eateries. We've now eaten at Burger Bar twice in a week and the fried mushrooms don't disappoint. And they have Diet Dr. Pepper which always is an A++++ in my book.

We were also very brave adults and went to our new Branch. Yes! We are in a Branch. We are the only Mormons in our entire apartment building. Which baffles me because I am from Utah County where everyone is Mormon. And hello we're still in Utah people. It's not like we moved across the country. That's totally fine however. Diversity is good.

We did find a cute pumpkin patch! Ogden is this strange mix of very ghetto, run down city and farm land? Very strange. I think my uncle put it well when he said there isn't a single part of Ogden that isn't on the wrong side of the tracks. Which is true. It is a railroad town. It's kind of shabby, and kind of stuck 20 years in the past, but that's ok. It gives it character. Every place I've ever judged and then went on to live in has always surprised me. So Ogden, here's to hoping you surprise me.

Peace, friends.