Colby and Katie

My husband is the best

2011-12-13T21:01:00.001-06:00

No. Really. I'm normally not one of those "I have the best life" bloggers, but my husband just made my night. As I prepare for two cookie exchange parties, I came to a panic mid recipe when the just-purchased-yesterday ground ginger was nowhere to be found. The hubs not only searched our house for it, he quickly put on his shoes and grabbed the keys to head out the door to the nearest Walmart. I guess he could tell it was one of those nights. To me--that equates to amazing.

And for you viewing pleasure, my flour, salt and baking powder mixture waiting for its friend ginger to join.

Happily Ever After

2011-08-15T21:21:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it has been 3 years since our wedding. I feel like it should either be 10 years, or 1, but not 3. It seems so long ago, yet so close at the same time.

I have loved the past 3 years with Colby and all of the adventures it has brought--finishing up at BYU, driving across the country with a U-haul to a state we knew little about, moving into a new apartment far form family, starting new jobs, promotions, building a house, having visitors, jaw surgery, fun vacations, new church callings.

As we ate dinner tonight we discussed all we have been through and thought forward a few years realizing what this conversation could be in 10 years. Grad school complete, kids in school, living who knows where and happy about it all.

Colby, I love you and am convinced I became the smartest woman in the world the day I said "yes" to you. You are perfect--and perfect for me. Thanks for everything. Happy Anniversary.

xoxo-always and forever

I Heart NY, Day 3

2011-08-14T18:22:00.001-05:00

Day 3 was a lot of fun for me, because I spent the majrity of it with one of my best friends, who was a previous college roommate, Jessi. She is living in New Jersey, so came over for the day. We walked 5th avenue a bit, went to the Flat Iron district and ate at Shakeshack, and shopped in Chinatown area. It was rainy, but it didn't stop us from having fun! After we saw her off, we finished the day by walking over the brooklyn bridge. This was one of my favorite things from the whole trip. The view was breathtaking, and with the fog, it looked as if the skyscrapers were being sucked up by the clouds. We ate at Grimaldi's pizza, one of the only remain coal, brick-oven pizzarias in the area, after waiting in line an hour. Yes. An hour. And it was very worth it. It was family style seating, so when two people left from one of the large long tables, we went and filled in those seats, sharing elbow room with the people on both sides of us. The pizza was delicious and it was such a fun atmosphere. It was a good mix of locals and adventurous tourists. We ended up eating around 10, and made it back to Lynne's well after midnight. Again, we had a great day, followed by a great night's sleep. :)

And yes, I know food was a theme of the day here as well.

reuniting after 2.5 years

Colby and me on 5th Avenue

Flatiron Building

Shakeshack-Delicious burgers, concretes, fries and Lemonade

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge toward Brooklyn

Delicious pizza at Grimaldis. Excuse the misted upon hair.

In Brooklyn, with Downtown Manhattan Financial District and the Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Crashed...

The Big Apple-Day 2

2011-08-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

After a good night's rest, we woke up and headed out for day 2, NYC.

I have always had a love for bagels and was determined to find the best bagel in the City. Per a few recommendations, we headed to Ess-A-Bagels. This place was delicious. I mean how could it not be--they literally put a quarter pound of cream cheese on each bagel. His-- Everything Bagel with plain cream cheese, Hers--Cinnamon raisin with cinnamon apple cream cheese. We split them and decided i ordered the winner. We headed over past St. Patrick's cathedral to the Rockefeller center and went to the top. The view was amazing. You get a much shorter line and better view of central park here than from the Empire State Building, for those wondering...

We skipped lunch and went straight for world famous magnolia's cupcakes for dessert. Colby won the ordering contest here--Pistachio cupcake over my dark chocolate with caramel frosting. We went up toward the Met and stopped in central park to enjoy our cupcakes. We hurried through the Egyptian Era, Impressionism and Modern art displays at the museum and jumped on a bus to make it to our reservation at DB Bistro. (Are you sensing a pattern...our day revolved around food). I ate the most expensive, but more importantly delicious, hamburger I had ever had. Colby ordered the same thing per Lynne's recommendation. When looking at the menu, I never would have guessed that Lynne would have ordered the burger, but after eating, I now understand. We had started off with great breads and appetizers, and finished off with a creme brule and passion fruit sorbet dessert. All of it was to.die.for.good.

We wrapped the night up with Mary Poppin's. It was such a cute musical and the first experience Colby had watching one. He really enjoyed it as well. We were right at Time's Square and didn't want to miss the nightlife there, so wandered around like zombies before heading back and crashing for yet another wonderful good night's sleep. Lynne had already left for Connecticut, so it was just us at her place. We will have to head over to Connecticut with her next time.

In New York, Concrete Jungles Where Dreams Are Made Of

2011-07-24T16:47:00.000-05:00

I considered putting our whole trip in one post, but that seemed way too overwhelming to pick the key points from the trip. I enjoyed parts of each day and want to document all of it. I hesitated, worrying that all (3...4...) the people who read this blog would get board of it, but then I remembered it is MY blog and it is for storing my memories. So, here is the first of several NYC posts. :)

Day 1 of New York City:

We arrived Wednesday night and took a taxi into Manhatten to Lynne's gorgeous appartment (seriously, it was decorated as if staged for a magazine shoot) in Midtown, right by the NY Public Library--great location. We chatted for a bit, the hit the sack to rest up for our busy day ahead.

Thursday morning we got up and rush across the island for the circle line tour. I absolutely loved it--possibly one of my favorite parts of the trips. We went on a boat that took us around the whole island. I would have rather been nowhere than on the water at this point, as temperatures were over 100*. I slipped into the restroom to take off my undershirt/camisole...way too hot for that. So, excuse my slight immodesty. It was a great tour because we learned about the layout of the island, enjoyed some much needed Vitamin D, and cruised past Lady Liberty herself.

We spent the afternoon in the financial district, with a pit stop at Grand Central. We saw Wall Street, Ground Zero, Battery Park, etc. We waited around until the stock market closed and people watched as all the bankers left for home. There were swarms of them. It was a sight to see.

We stopped by the apartment briefly, then headed to Salute, an amazing Italian restaurant just up the street. Colby convinced me to try Calamari for the first time. Not so bad. Interestling texture though and caused all kinds of weird thought in my head about the creatures of the deep seas.

All in all, we really enjoyed day 1, and needless to say, slept very well that night.

Here are some photos from the day:

On the Circle Line Tour making our way up the East River

Wall Street and the Financial District

Ground Zero

Park on the banks of the Hudson River

Idaho

2011-07-17T22:06:00.003-05:00

Just returned from one of my favorite places, St. Anthony, Idaho. It was a much needed vacation. i loved taking Colby to see where I spent many summer vacations and being able to spend time with my family (and take a quick trip on over to Wyoming to see Colby's family).

We usually spend most of our time playing in the river be it jumping off the city bridge, floating through the channel or playing at the sandbar. Due to extremely high water, we had minimal time in the river, but easily found other activities to keep us entertained. Between games, eating, yard work chatting and river time, we had a perfect week. Here is a glimpse of what we did all week.

raft the Teton river

$5 tickets for the HP midnight showing at the St. Anthony Roxy Theatre

Floating from the Del Rio down the Snake

Mexi-Train (other days were filled with Settlers and Carcassonne)

Yard work, a given when staying at the family house--we redid the back terrace

Banana Hot Fudge Shakes and Caramel Malts from Falls Drug

Overflowing Channel--took a raincheck on this activity this year

Breathtaking Moon each night

a little farm work in Wyoming

A visit to the cemetery to see Kelly's headstone

"Is this one fair game"--Colby hoping for the bow hat.

The nearly complete terrace

Hanging out in the yard

Post float down to the sandbar and over the orange netting

Ultimate Croquet

Family Photo

'Til next time...

missing you all already!

C Family Father's Day Photos

2011-06-19T19:49:00.001-05:00

As excited as I am to post about our Fabulous trip to NYC, I am also excited the get a photo shoot from yesterday up. A family asked me to takes photos for a fun Father's Day tradition they have. Head over to my photography blog to check it out. Be sure to let me know what you think! :)

Katie Heiner Photography Blog

Canoeing

2011-05-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

--Finally I Get to Get in on the Fun!

You may remember that Colby had a few river adventures last year, but I never got to go on them. He promised to take me this year and we had a blast. After post-poning the trip several weeks in a row due to massive amounts of rain, we hit the river on a gorgeous day and are so glad we waited.

We conoed several miles down the Buffalo and stopped for a little cliff jumping and to see the highest waterfall between the Rockies and the Appalachians. The views along the way were breathtaking. We had great company (and wished some others of you could have joined) and only swamped the canoe twice. :) Swamped, for those of you who aren't as experienced in this type of adventure, {I had no idea what this meant 2 weeks ago} means tipped over. And, no, this wasn't on the rapids--we were pro on those--this was getting back into our canoes in unmoving, 2 feet deep water with 40 people watching. Fab.

Enjoy some pictures. Unfortunately they don't do the beauty of the place justice.

New York

2011-05-02T21:39:00.001-05:00

Colby just booked tickets to NYC and we are stoked to go explore the city. I went once as a high schooler with my fam and Colby has never been.

Did I mention we are excited!

We will be there 5 days in June and know it will be a whirlwind of a trip.

Since neither of us have had to plan a trip there before, I am desperate to hear from those of you who have been and have great recommendations of places to see, restaurants/cafe to eat at, and things to do. Seriously, the more suggestions the better. We are willing to spend a little, but would prefer to keep it more as a budget-friendly trip if at all possible.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

New York, here we come.

Spring Weekends

2011-04-10T20:56:00.000-05:00

Two of the many reasons I love early spring weekends:

1) I get to eat homemade ice cream with my favorite person on our front porch during sunset.

2) My containers are filled with beautiful plants rather than old dirt from last season. Hallelujah.

Teenage Dream

2011-03-27T20:06:00.001-05:00

Currently more on the teenage side, not quite to the dream.

I am back at it for round four of braces. Thankfully by looking like a teenager for the next nine months I will be able to achieve the dream of painless jaw joints and the ability to thoughtlessly eat my meals. It has been a long journey to get to this point {splint, jaw surgery, exercises...} and I am grateful to be on the final stretch.

I caved and took the vain route of clear braces. Hey, I think I deserve it this time around.

And for your viewing pleasure, (mainly for my dad) moi and my railroad tracks.

Breakfast of ...

2011-03-27T10:30:00.004-05:00

~~Champions~~ the Sick.
{but he's still a champion in my eyes---helped with cleaning our tornado struck-looking house for a few hours yesterday}

For breakfast we had cream of wheat and orange juice. Because the Hubs is sick and that's what he requested. Hoping for better feeling days for him soon.

He just informed me that it's not allergies as I had originally suspected. 100+ degree temps don't come with allergies.

Spring

2011-03-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

There is something about the changing of seasons that makes me so excited. When we returned home from snowy Wyoming, I was excited to be greeted by budding trees and blooming flowers. With the new season comes new adventures and new projects. My first spring project has been making a porch bench so we can enjoy the great weather sitting on our porch. We finished it yesterday and I love it. Now that the weather is good, we get to spend our weekends outside enjoying Arkansas. We have gone to Compton gardens/Slaughter Pen a few times for biking and have loved it! Hope you are all enjoying your spring weather as much as we are. If only spring break came with this season of our lives...

we love riding here. They have expanded the trail system this past winter and it is fabulous!

We saw a similar bench (in a random neighborhood) that we both thought we could replicate so drove to Home Depot to buy wood and give the bench an attempt. Colby cut and assembled everything and I did the finish work. Who knew a router and electric sander could be so much fun. Thanks to my fabulous neighbor for sharing his cool tools and showing me how to use them. :) Now I just have to find some lovely outdoor pillows.

Blessed to Have Known Him

2011-03-13T19:20:00.005-05:00

As many of you may already know, Colby's father, Kelly Heiner passed away a week and a half ago after battling with Kidney cancer for the past few months. We were able to spend over a week with him in January which we will always treasure. The past months have been difficult ones for Kelly and Debra. After months of trying to figure out why Kelly was struggling, he was diagnosed with Kidney cancer on December 7, 2010. Shortly after, prior to a pending operation, it was found that the cancer had spread to his liver and lungs and that it was a very rare cancer, one the Huntsman Cancer Institute had only seen two times prior. He was given three weeks to live. He was a fighter and decided together with his sweet wife, Debra, to try chemo treatments as he was not healthy enough to survive an operation. This began the beginning of many weeks of driving to and from their home in Wyoming 4 hours for treatments once a week. After two-plus months of treatments, it was found the chemo was ineffective.

Before heading back to Wyoming, the waited in Utah to meet up with Darren who was coming to visit from Mississippi, the last of the sons to visit since the diagnosis. A day after returning home and calling in hospice, Kelly left this earth and returned home to our Father in Heaven. While we know he is in a much better place doing the work of the Lord and released from the pain in this life, we are still saddened to be here without him. He knew there was a greater work in store for him, so once able to see each of his sons, he went Home. As I learned in one of the funeral talks, we know that our Lord is truly merciful after seeing Kelly released from this earth and the ugly disease of cancer that engulfed his body. He was a wonderful man and touched the lives of many. I was overcome with amazement as I sat through two viewings and the funeral service as I learned more about Kelly and heard many share how he had helped shape their lives. He truly understood the gospel and exemplified the principles of charity, teaching, family and love. I am honored to be his daughter-in-law and be married to one of his sons.

While this has been a difficult season of our lives, we have been greatful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and have recognized the many tender mercies we have been given. My mother in law refers to each of these instances as "Divine Signatures" as we can see the hand of the Lord reminding us He is with us.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and for you prayers.

Cold Stone and a Kitchen Mixer

2011-02-16T20:22:00.002-06:00

So what do Cold Stone and a mixer have to do with each other? Let me explain...

Colby made Valentine's Day a wonderful night for me. Knowing that crowds and expensive menus would not win my heart, Colby cooked the best meal for me on Valentine's day, not allowing me into the kitchen to help at all. He made a green salad, bacon-wrapped steak medallions, baked potato and grilled pineapple. The steak was honestly the best I think I have ever had. He had me leave the kitchen while he was "preparing dessert." I could hear him mixing something up with the beaters and creating all sorts of noise in the kitchen. We had just gotten a new car that day, so he asked if I would go for a drive with him while we let our food settle before dessert. Our drive took us to Cold Stone, my favorite, where he really showed he knew me as he pulled out a gift card we had received earlier. After all, what's the sense in paying cash if we have a gift card. :) When I asked about the noise in the kitchen, he got a huge grin and was happy to know he had confused me. He didn't want me to figure out our dessert surprise, so was pretending to make me dessert by letting the beaters run and hitting pans together. Oh Colby, you are adorable. I love that we are perfect for each other, even through all our quirky and imperfect ways. Thanks for being my Valentine!

xoxo

{ps, doesn't he look good in an apron}

LOVE

2011-02-12T20:28:00.001-06:00

Love through the eyes of children...

I got this in an email and thought they were all so cute.

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7   (hello. could this be any cuter? This one is my favorite. Absolutely adorable.)

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

Happy Valentines Season.

If you are reading this, more than likely I love you! Thanks for being you and for having a special role in my life.

Now this is what I call a Snow Day

2011-02-09T15:15:00.002-06:00

Unlike our last snow day, snowfall today has broken the all-time snow record for this area. When typical yearly averages of snow are 6'', we got 18-20'' in the first 4 hours. This is more of what I would expect of a snow day. Pretty sure we couldn't drive anywhere even if we wanted to. Now that the snow has stopped, the official reading for our town was 23''. Our yard was 17'' after setting for several hours. Crazy.

Precious little guy

2011-02-09T09:57:00.002-06:00

Isn't he beautiful. I think so.

katieheinerphotography.blogspot.com

Funeral procession/See ya when you're done

2011-02-03T21:09:00.000-06:00

Colby and I left work together today to attend the funeral of a sweet lady from our ward. It was a beautiful service; a little different than I am used to, but very heartfelt and beautiful. I always leave funerals wishing I had known many of the things about that person before they were gone and I was sitting in their funeral.

Anyway, the funeral was in a small funeral home and Colby and I were on the aisle seats of the back row of the "friends side." At the end of the service the funeral director came up to me, crouched down and whispered what at first I thought were directions to go sit with the family. I was very confused and thought maybe she had thought we were family and since we snuck in at the last minute didn't take our correct seat and thought we would want to be with the family when they walked out. Nice gesture of her to do, only we aren't family...

She must have noticed my bewildered look as she repeated her directions and motioned for me to head to the front down the aisle to the family, then out. I was confused still but could sense her urgency to get me going. I figured they were just organizing an exit for everyone and taking us out the long way by way of the front to the back door as to not cause a traffic jam. I stood up and realized I really had no idea what was going on and that I was the only one walking up the aisle and people were beginning to turn and look at me. Luckily the funeral director nudged Colby to follow. I made eye contact with bishop who gave me the look of "what are you doing" and asked quietly if I was to head out to the left or right.
He didn't know.
Neither did I.
I chose left because I recalled the director mentioning family and they were all on the left. As I was walking past, it dawned on me that they were sending us out this way such that we could offer our condolences to the family. Yeah, I'm a little slow. Unfortunately, I was so flustered and didn't know who was family or not and felt all eyes on me on this small, quiet room that all I got out was a muttered, "I'm so sorry for your loss." Great. Of all times to get flustered? now? really? Great. I am almost positive it came out quite insincere.

Well instead of letting this eat at me all afternoon, I instead participated in a good laughing session with Colby in the car as we discussed how utterly awkward that was. Turns out he was just as confused as I was as was the guest leaving third in line. We have only been to funerals where the pallbearers and casket leave first, followed by family then guests. For all those attending our funeral in the very far future, just know you won't be faced with this same traumatic experience. Also know you will never see us in the back row of a funeral again.

At the risk of making this long post longer, I must share funny story numero two of the day. As we returned back to work we both needed to rush to the restroom. {Guzzling a water bottle while rushing to eat lunch before the funeral and walking in at 1:01 to a 1:00 funeral do wonders to a small bladder.} As Colby turned to go into the men's restroom I said, ok, see ya...when you're done. He replied, okay, see ya then. Because the walls in bathrooms as walmart home office are thin, I could hear a toilet flush in the men's room and hurried to wash my hands and make it out to meet him. When I walked out, he wasn't out yet. So I waited. And waited. And waited. Now I was trying to figure out what was taking him so long. He is usually pretty vocal about his, well, business, if its bad, and hadn't said anything prior to going in. Odd. But okay. He must be taking longer than usual, I though. The door slowly opened and I expected to see Colby. Nope. A man headed into the restroom shortly. A few minutes later, the same man came out. No Colby. I was getting impatient and wondering what the supplier in the supplier room across the hall were thinking of me, hanging out by the trashcans and bathroom. It had probably been 5 minutes and I was worrying--I was almost ready to have someone go in and check to see if Colby had fallen in, but then I realized that is being way to paranoid of a wife. Instead I called his cell. Here is our convo.

c:hello?
k: colby, where. are. you.?
c: i just logged back into my computer. I'm at my desk.
k:oh my gosh. what? {laughing...} are you serious?
c:yeah. why? where are you.
{pause}
k: I'm standing outside the bathroom, waiting for you.
c: oh my gosh. no way.
k: yeah. really.
. . .
Five minutes of my life--wasted.

Apparently when I said see you when you're done he took it as when you're done with work. I meant it as done in the restroom. Simple misunderstanding. Good laugh. Glad I didn't barge into the men's restroom to make sure my husband hadn't been sucked down the pipes.

Looks like Colby and Katie have had their first "Merrill and Kalle" day. (Something only my side of the family will understand...Uncle and Aunt with similar stories x 100 all too often) Hopefully its the last.

Who needs Pottery Barn

2011-01-23T19:48:00.000-06:00

I love Pottery Barn style, always have, probably always will. However, I am too cheap to buy stuff there. When I found a green table cloth at the associate store for a few bucks, I knew it would become the pottery barn pillow I had my eye on.

Pottery Barn Pillow

My version

Mission accomplished, pottery barn style.

Snow Day

2011-01-20T10:38:00.000-06:00

Growing up I was always so jealous of my cousin's who lived in Utah and Idaho who would tell me about all the fun they had on snow days. I guess I never stopped to realize I never got snow days because the weather was beautiful all year long. Anyway, today I get my first SNOW DAY!! Here in Arkansas, the concept of snow is very different than in the West. The whole community has shut down because of about 1''-2'' of snow. While work wasn't entirely cancelled, we were advised to take our laptops home last night such that we could just do the essential stuff from home. You can bet that Colby and I are still sitting in our pajamas enjoying our Snow Day, laughing at the news talking about the massive snow storm to hit our area, as we think back to being in Wyoming two days ago when it snowed about 8 inches in one day and no one batted an eye over it. Too funny--but we will take our Snow Day gladly!

post-holiday travels

2011-01-08T14:22:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning we are leaving work behind and taking off to go spend some quality time with the in-laws. We will be between Utah and Wyoming and really looking forward to getting time with them. While all the Arkansan's are enjoying the predicted snow here Sunday-Tuesday, we will hopefully be surviving the multi-feet of snow we are headed too--let's just pray our little Arkansas airport can get our plane off the ground in the snow. :)

photography blog update!

2011-01-04T20:45:00.002-06:00

I was able to take more newborn photos the weekend before Christmas and finally got them edited. As I went to post them I decided to make some changes to the look of my photography blog while testing out Adobe Illustrator, my Christmas gift from Colby!! I would love you all (I guess I am assuming people actually still read this blog even though I have slacked in posting...maybe that's a bad assumption...if you are reading, you will have to let me know) to head over and check it out. I am still learning, but loving exploring the art of photography.

Katie Heiner Photography

New Year, New Beginning

2011-01-04T20:42:00.002-06:00

I have never been big into the new year's resolution thing. Maybe it has to do with me not being the best as setting goals. I remember in college sitting in a class and being told that

"A goal not written down is merely a wish".

That really struck me and I have remembered it ever since. I find myself occasionally writing down small goals in the margins of my notebook at work, church, etc. As the new year has approached, I have thought a lot about goals, and though I have failed at writing them down, I am looking forward to starting with a clean slate this year. 2010 was a fabulous year and I created many great memories, but I feel we left a lot of potential memories on the table. When I reflect back on the year, I realize how much time was spent sitting at work or sitting at home recovering from work. Colby and I have discussed this and want to really do better at using our free time wisely. We constantly look back on our college years and remember feeling so pressed for time and realize how free we were then. I know we feel busy now, but I know someday we will look back at this time and realize how much free time we truly did have. If i were to commit to even one goal for the new year, it would simply be to make better use of our time. I want to fill my free time with developing hobbies, studying scriptures, spending quality time with Colby, being a better friend/family member, and the list could go on and on.

So here is to the new year. 2010 went out all to quickly, and I want to make the best of 2011 because I know it will go by just as fast. Happy New Year to each of you!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-11T23:29:00.001-06:00

Of all the things I am grateful of, Family is always top of mind when it comes to a "Thankful list." While they have always been on top of that list, they have become even more important over the last few years as I have lived outside of my parents home. Now that i am not in constant contact with them, I realize how much I have learned from them and how the person I am today is due greatly to what I have learned from each of them. Each member of my family, Jergensen and Heiner side, has special talents and gifts and i love the bond we all have. I was lucky to be able to have the Jergensen side of the family come visit for a week over their Thanksgiving break to be with me and Colby. It was such a great, memorable week. Yes, I will never forget the image of wall to wall mattresses in our extra room with 3 people piled on top, the cold showers I would take because our little water heater wasn't made to heat water for 8 showers, or trying to create a table that would seat all 8 of us for our Thanksgiving feast, but most importantly, I won't forget the conversations we had, the laughs we shared and relationships we built upon. Thanks, family, for a great week. Can't wait for you to come back someday!

Here is a photo story of what we spent our time doing.

We did a lot of eating... a little exercising...

Thanksgiving Feast

Hanging out at the house playing Jenga

Happy Birthday Nathan. You made it just in time so we could all celebrate the special day together!

Bowling was a blast. The below picture shows a true image of "like mother, like daughter." Identical bowls from form to final shot. Unfortunately it was a gutter for both. Pretty funny though.

What is a visit to Arkansas without the Walmart tour?

Lindsey and I had some fun experimenting with the camera. See my favorites on my new photography blog, katieheinerphotography.blogspot.com

Family--It was a blast having you here. Hope to see you sooner rather than later. Love you all. xoxo.

Photography Blog

2010-10-31T20:53:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of creating my photography blog. Head over there and let me know what you think. I would love any and all feedback! Thanks!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:44:00.000-05:00

From Mario and Princess Peach

I really had a fun time coming up with our costumes this year. The idea came from our halloween party last week, where it was an eighties theme. Since I wasn't alive much in the eighties, all the singers/movies were out. When I found out Super Mario came out in the 80s I was all for it. I found a pink sleeveless nightgown at goodwill and added to it to make the dress. I learned a lot about sewing in the process, and loved the experience. Colby was a great sport and was a fabulous Mario. Hope you all had a happy halloween!

Miss A

2010-10-25T17:59:00.006-05:00

We were part of a little win-win situation yesterday as we "borrowed" our little friend for photos. It gave me a chance to practice my photography and was free babysitting for her parents. Sweet deal if I may say so myself. Isn't she adorable. Let me know what you think of the photos; I'm still learning so would love any feedback!

Intermittent Springs

2010-10-19T22:40:00.002-05:00

When we were in Wyoming, Colby took me on a hike to see this intermittent spring. He described it and honestly, it didn't seem like it would be all that cool, but I went along with it because he was so excited to take me. I must admit now though, that it was pretty neat to see. This spring will be running full force, and then slowly stops completely. The water completely runs dry. The below picture is taken at full force, and the one below that is a wider view of the same area about 5 minutes prior--completely drained. It was crazy cool. So glad I went. Besides the spring, the leaves were just beginning to change and it was beautiful! I love the Rocky mountains!

Heiner Family Photo

2010-10-18T20:07:00.013-05:00

{click photo to enlarge}

"I went skydiving, I went rocky mountain climbing"

2010-10-11T18:16:00.003-05:00

When our friends, the Ahos found out we were going skydiving, Julie flipped. She kept telling us we were crazy and she wouldn't allow it. We spent last Saturday at their home for dinner, and this is what she sereved as dessert, "Ode to skydiving" (or some other really clever name I can't remember.). It was hilarious, and delicious, and didn't make us think twice about going skydiving this weekend. :)

For my birthday, Colby surprised me with certificates to go skydiving. I have never been so surprised with a birthday gift. So last weekend, almost 2 months after my birthday, we did it. It was a blast and definitely unforgettable. We jumped tandem from 10,000 feet out of a rickety Cessna airplane. We both are so glad we did it (and survived to tell about it.) Check it all out in video below.

(music was put to the videos and apparently it beraks copyright so youtube muted it. can't figure out how to put it up with sounds. any help would be greatly appreciated. for now, just imagine screaming. :) )

Wyoming

2010-10-05T11:14:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we were able to go spend some time in Wyoming with the Heiners to attend the funeral of Colby's Grandpa. I didn't know the man for very long, but from what I do know and have heard of him, he is a wonderful, kind man. He will be missed, but was welcomed by many on the other side.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought us all together, it was so good to be all together as the Heiner family. It is actually the first time I have been with the whole family at once. It was great to spend time together and just relax. Not until i am in an area like that do I remember how much I really miss mountains. Star Valley is just beautiful.

Since we were all together, we did a little photo shoot in an attempt to get a good family photo. i am working on editing them, but here are a few sneak peaks from the day of the non-whole family shots.

more pictures to come...i gotta get to bed :)

can't sleep

2010-10-05T00:53:00.000-05:00

It is 11:54 and I can't sleep. I think I have inherited this from my mom. I can't sleep until all members of my family are home safe, and Colby is still at work. Yes, it is nearly midnight and Colby has not been home. He is busy showing off for one of the executives who asked him to personally put together an executive presentation and it needed some revising. Luckily, this is the only time since our time with Walmart that he has ever worked past 7/8ish. I just hope he comes home soon...my 7:30 work morning is not going to be pleasant.

update: Colby left work at 1:45 am. And he didn't utter one word of complaint. He is a saint.

My baker man

2010-10-03T21:15:00.006-05:00

Colby really went out of his way to make my birthday special. One thing that I have always had for my birthday is a cake. Growing up, mom always made one. My first birthday as a married woman, we were on our honeymoon and my mom had helped colby out by sending him with a microwavable cake, which he surprised me with on while in Mexico. This year, I kinda thought I wouldn't have a cake, and to be honest, i was a little sad. But, the night before my birthday I came home from a movie with my girlfriends and smelled fresh baked cake the minute i walked through the door. He had once again surprised me with a cake. He asked me to frost it white, then he decorated it. I'm thinking he may have discovered a hidden talent. :)

ooohh...and he got me the bling bling watch I am wearing in this photo...he has great taste :)

finally fall

2010-10-03T18:51:00.003-05:00

As we walked outside for a Sunday morning breakfast at our friends, I felt the cold, crisp air hit me. It is finally turning to fall. We have had such strange weather lately. I hope this stays. While browsing through my photos I found this apple shot; what represents fall better than apples.

My house is now decorated for fall and I am loving it. The only set back to that was discovering that our fall decorations, which were stored in the attic all year long, were covered in candle wax that had melted over the summer. At least it all smelled like mulled cider. :)

Family

2010-09-04T10:39:00.004-05:00

A week ago now I was in California with most of my favorite people--my family--this was our first time all being together since our wedding 2 years ago. Mitch just returned home from his Paris France mission and Brad was preparing to leave. Their time home only overlapped 6 days, so Colby and I made sure to be there. It was a non-stop, crazy hectic but totally relaxing, laughing so hard til your face hurts/ crying til all your mascara is on your shirt, never forget kind of weekend. You know it has been a great trip when you return home needing a vacation from vacation.

We did many fun things: Boating with Dad, Padres Baseball game, shopping for 9 family members for coordinating outfits for fam pictures (ok, not the most fun, but still memorable), family picture with fabulous Carolyn, beach day, dinners, Settlers games, and wrapped it all up with Mitch and Brad's homecoming/farewell talks in church and a family dinner/gathering with all of our great southern california relatives.

I love being with family and creating memories together. I have been a little homesick this week as I have been back in Arkansas, 100s of miles away from both sides of our family. Seeing Lindsey and Andrew so much taller than they used to be and listening to Brad and Mitch give such beautiful talks and hearing about Nathan's new endeavors with work and Dental school really made me want to be closer to the epicenter of it all. Someday.

Brad has now entered the MTC and is preparing to teach the gospel in Washington in Spanish. He has matured so much and has such a love for the gospel. He will be a great missionary (following in the footsteps of Mitch and Nathan).

Here's to a great family!

August 2nd is a day of celebration

2010-08-03T14:31:00.000-05:00

I know I am not the only one who LOVES this man (but pretty sure I love him more than every one else) ...so I will share some photos from his 27th (27th!!) birthday.

Colby, thanks for being you. I love you.

Beaver Lake

2010-08-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

Our friends, the Gordens, invited us out to the lake (actually both Gorden families seperately invited us out for the same occasion...). It was such a blast to get away from the town and enjoy a beautiful day on the lake. Thanks Gorden families!

Canoeing the Buffalo River

2010-07-02T15:35:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago Colby went on a fun Canoe trip with a bunch of guys down the Buffalo river. He keeps asking if I have by chance blogged about it. :) I can now say yes. I may have to convince him to come type up some details, but for now we will let the pictures tell the story (and should we take a minute to take in the fact that COLBY 1, took a camera on the trip and 2, took pictures with said camera. way to go!). From what i have seen from the pictures, the Buffalo River is gorgeous. Rumor has it that next year the trip will include women. Wahoo!

Jaw Surgery

2010-07-01T16:16:00.002-05:00

I have been debating wether or not i want to post about this, but then I realized that the reason I have this blog is to keep the people whom I love and who love me informed about what is going on in my life. I am posting just for that reason. If any of you had something this major happen to you, I definitely would want to know about it, and this is the best way to do so.

About 2 years ago I started having problems with my jaw. Things got worse as time went on and a few months ago it was determined through an MRI that I had severe TMJ (sometimes referred to as lock jaw). We tried a very conservative approach to fix the problem that did not work out, so we decided to take the big step to surgery. I had surgery last Wednesday where they made an incision along each ear and went in to my jaw joint to replace the fallen cartilage back between my jaw joint on both sides of my jaw. I also had a wisdom tooth removed. Needless to say, it wasn't an easy surgery. My mom came into town to nurse me back to health for a week; having her here was so wonderful. She was a lifesaver. Colby and I are very grateful to her for doing so. Colby has also been an angel, running me to appointments (I can't drive due to medications), grinding every meal down to mush, and simply wiping my tears away. Neighbors and friends have brought flowers and food and good conversation. I am so grateful for everyone who has helped out, prayed for me and helped us through this difficult time. I am also grateful to live in an area with someone who excels in this field. When I started looking into this and calling around for surgeons, people from 4 hours away in multiple directions referred me to someone whose office is 15 minutes from my house. People fly from all over the world for his work. I don't think this was coincidence. This is getting lengthy so I will close. Just wanted to fill you all in in what is happening in our lives.

Recovery is going well and hopefully will continue this way. Love you all!

Baby Thomas

2010-06-08T21:32:00.010-05:00

A good friend of mine just had a new baby and asked me to take some newborn pictures. I was a little nervous about doing this as I had never taken any portrait type photos, but was up for the challenge. She was a perfect person to do this for as she was completely laid back and willing to let me try a few things. It was a fabulous opportunity and learning experience.

Meet baby Thomas...

His older brother got a little camera action too. He was adorable!

One Man's Junk is another [Wo]man's Treasure

2010-06-05T20:05:00.006-05:00

Found this two weeks ago at our neighborhood garage sale. It was in sad, sad, shape. But for a dollar, I figured it was something I could attempt to pull the life back out of. Before I started, Colby was convinced this would be for sale in our yard at the next neighborhood garage sale. I think he sees otherwise now.

Whacha think?

{before}

{after}

the color is a little different than I would normally do, but I wanted to try something that would stand out.

2010-05-31T22:46:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite things about owning our own home, is having the freedom to have a garden! Colby was just as excited about this, so together we planted our own. In Arkansas, the ground is mostly clay, so we had to build our garden on top of our ground. Colby hauled over 20 wheel barrels full of soil to fill the garden box he had made, then mixed it with compost, etc. We had planted a few of the plants indoors, planted several outside directly in the garden, and had a few purchased "starter" plants. The plants have really taken off (along with the weeds) and we had our first garden food last night, green beans.

Our main garden is 20'x5' and consists of peppers, jalapeno, tomatoes (Roma, Early Girl, Better Boy), summer squash, zucchini, green beans, beets, green onion, peas and a small herb garden (chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, and rosemary). We have a separate flower bed along the side of our house with strawberries, cantaloupe and watermelon and one small fruit tree in the corner.

Here are some pictures. In order to get everything in without photo overload, I made them into collages. If you want to see the details (Mom and Dad), click on the image and you will see it larger. :) Enjoy!

the main garden: mini pictures are green onions, beets, tomatoes, artichoke and zucchini

Beans

peach tree--we have 7 peaches and we planted it this year. We are calling that a success.

Peas

Side Garden--strawberries (covered so the birds don't keep eating all the good ones), cantaloupe and watermelon

From Lemonade Stands to Tattoo Stations

2010-05-23T20:37:00.002-05:00

As Colby and I were out for an afternoon walk, two neighbor kids came running out to their corner stand yelling, "Tattoos, 10 cents. You want one?" And they had options, all drawn out nicely on their construction paper to choose from. Apparently Lemonade stands are the thing of the past. Now it's all about hand-sketched, crayola-washables, 10 cent tattoos. In case you are wondering, we passed that one up. I had a good chuckle about it though.

Ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep

2010-05-15T23:05:00.005-05:00

The first time I saw fireflies here in Arkansas, it seriously looked like someone had strung twinkling Christmas lights across a large field. To me, it really is a magical sight. As we headed home from the movie theater tonight I saw them; the fireflies are back for this new season. Seeing them made me giddy. These bugs are seriously the coolest thing ever. If you have fireflies in your area, I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am. Good night!

Caribbean Cruise

2010-05-09T21:44:00.002-05:00

Colby and I took a week off of work for a week to go play in the Caribbean aboard the Star Princess ship. We stopped off at four islands: Bahamas, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk. With those four stops, and two full days at sea, we had plenty of time for adventure and relaxation. Some of our favorite things onboard the ship were the wonderful four-plus course dinners (we probably gained at least 5 pounds each), movies on the top deck under the stars, unlimited softserve, and relaxing by the pools. On the islands we did a lot of snorkeling and sight-seeing.

on the front of the sihp while leaving Ft. Lauderdale

at our muster station during the emergency drill

Nassau, Bahamas: Nassau was our least favorite stop of the four, but still enjoyable. We were only there for a few hours and it was overcast. While there we took a land taxi over to visit the Atlantis hotel with an agenda to visit the beautiful aquarium the taxi driver told us about. Mistake. We got there and the aquarium did appear to be beautiful, but that was only our impression from the small segment available to the public. Unlike our taxi driver said, non hotel guests must pay $40 each to enter. We opted out of that expense and adventure. We walked around a bit, then headed back toward the ship on a water taxi where we were told all about the famous people who own homes in the vicinity. Before boarding the ship we spent a little time in the straw market, a large market full of knock offs and such.

Atlantis in the back

At the Atlantis aquarium...at least the part we could see

Watching the stingrays at Atlantis

Formal night at dinner

Our 1st day at sea: Spent the whole day reading by the pool, laying out at the back of the ship and eating ice cream.

St. Maarten: Here we left the ship with our snorkel equiptment in hand ready to see the underwater life of the Caribbean. We spent the morning at Dawn's beach where we saw beautiful fish and even a sting ray. After a few hours, we took a taxi to Little bay where we had heard was full of amazing fish. Unfortunately, the information we were given was no longer true. Apparently a snorkeling shop was on the beach and they used to feed the fish, bringing in wonderful wildlife. The shop has since closed, leaving the water quite lifeless. Oh well. The first stop was beautiful. Our misfortune of this stop was forgetting to reapply the sunscreen. Our backsides were lobster-red from the sun baking down on them all day long. The water was so refreshing that we didn't even notice it. We certainly felt it later though!

Dawn's Beach

Little Bay

a delicious and refreshing coconut smoothie. so worth every penny.

leaving St. Maarten

St. Thomas: We contemplated even taking our snorkeling stuff off the ship at this island because we were in so much pain from our sunburn. Our fronts were red from laying of two days prior on the ship, and our backs were red from snorkeling in St. Maarten. We took the snorkeling stuff just in case. Our first stop on the island was at Magen's Bay, one of the Caribbean's top 10 beaches. It was beautiful; it is a protected bay full of crystal-clear, blue water lapping ever so lightly up on a span of white sandy beach. The entrance was quite crowded, so we headed down to a quiet spot and found a shady tree to keep us away from the painful sun. Yes, we were acting much like the retirees that were on our ship. We both sported t-shirts when we went into the water, definitely a first for me. After spending a few hours there, we decided to toughen up and go to Coki Beach for snorkeling. There aren't any fish at Magens Bay, so snorkeling would mean another taxi ride. We made it up to Coki Beach and are so glad we did. The fish were amazing. The most incredible thing we saw were schools of thousands on inch long fish. As we sawm through them we saw a few 3-4 foot Bass at the bottom and realized/were told the bass were swimming around the small fish and making "bait balls," balls of the fish that they would later swim through with open mouths. Pretty interesting. When these little fish would change direction, their scales would capture the sun and reflect a beautiful silver shimmer through the clear water.

breakfast before heading off the ship to St. Thomas

St. Magen's Bay

Our shady spot on the beach...had to protect that sunburn :)

In our "sun protection" attire

Coki Beach

Grand Turk:Our favorite island was probably Grand Turk, which is the capitol of Turks and Caicos; it is a tiny island, only 7x1 miles, in the middle of the world's third largest coral reef. Instead of taking a taxi to a nearby snorkeling area, we rented a scooter and drove around the whole island stopping to snorkel, visiting the lighthouse and driving through the towns, all while dodging the free roaming cows, donkeys and horses of the island. We saw some neat coral, beautiful shells, tiny jelly fish (which we also had to swim through--ouch), brightly colored fish, a flounder (the one that lay on the bottom on their sides and blend in with the sand) and a lion fish. We ended the evening on the ship pulling away from the island during a beautiful sunset. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

arriving at Grand Turk

scootin' on the scooter. We had a blast!

The lighthouse that was brought over from the UK years ago to help prevent the many shipwrecks occurring on the reef.

Governor's Beach

Final day at sea: more relaxing, laying out, reading and eating...

Back to Reality

2010-04-25T15:13:00.001-05:00

We are back from a week in Caribbean aboard the Star Princess and dreading returning back to work tomorrow. Pictures and stories to come...once unpacking, laundry and all that good stuff is taken care of.

forever young??

2010-04-13T19:15:00.003-05:00

While chaperoning at a youth activity (for 12-18 year olds) I went up to some of the leaders who were assembling the dessert table and asked what I could do to help.

Their response: Oh, we aren't ready for you guys quite yet.

Great, clearly she didn't hear me offer to help and thought instead that I was one of the youth who couldn't wait any longer for her cupcake.

My response: I know, what can I do to help so we can get ready more quickly.

Her response: Oh, I thought you were a youth. Sure. We would love your help.

Fabulous.

I guess it is better to look young than old and wrinkly. I will embrace it.

Tickle my Ivory Keys

2010-03-12T17:40:00.003-06:00

I had a love/hate relationship with piano growing up. I loved when I could play beautiful pieces on the piano, but hated the practicing. Now that I am on my own and not being "forced" (ok, that word is a little harsh) to take lessons, I really wish I had a piano to play around on. Colby and I have been looking around on craigslist for several months for a piano. We found a few that would work okay, but always passed them over because we had no where to put it. Now that we are in a house a piano is more of a realistic idea. While Darren and Brittany were here Colby found a piano online for sale about 15 miles away. We hurried over to see it and with Brittany's help I was able to decide make a decision to buy it. It is a 1987 Baldwin upright console piano with minimal aesthetic damage. The sound quality is great, besides needing a good tuning. Luckily (for us, not Darren) we had some extra helping hands this weekend so Colby and Darren were able to move it into our home. I absolutely love having a piano and find myself practicing daily...something I never thought would be the case years ago.

I am grateful for the years of lessons my parents paid for and pushed me through as a child. Hopefully I can get back to the level I used to be.

Painting away

2010-03-12T17:13:00.004-06:00

After a little indecisiveness, we now how three layers of paint (four on one small section) on the bottom layer of our dining room, and a new look to the room. We love the change. Everything was much too bland before when the whole room was the light tan color of the upper section. We planned on doing this from the beginning, but figured we could do it ourselves rather than paying our painter $150 for an extra color change.

sunny days

2010-03-05T14:19:00.002-06:00

Nothing beats getting off work at 12:30 on Friday and being able to drive home with music blasting and the windows down. I love warm, sunshiny days. If only it would last. The weekend forecast isn't looking so promising.

same old, same old

2010-02-25T16:36:00.002-06:00

I keep coming to my own blog to see who has updated blogs recently and each time am disgusted that the same post has been at the top of my page for over a month. Each time I see it I think, self-what super interesting thing can I post about, and the answer each time is nothing, absolutely nothing.

The past month has been a great month. There just isn't anything fabulous to write about. I started my job with Walmart in a buyers training program and am loving it. Our first 10 weeks are spent working in a local store. Some days time flies by, like when we got to spend a few hours in the bakery making valentine cupcakes, and other days just drag. After the store rotation we will rotate around several merchandising roles within buying and planning. The thought of these rotations make my marketing self very happy.

Just wanted you all to know we are alive and well...just busy. Between full time work, working with our youth program, and trying to be a good wife, not much time is left for blogging. Hopefully you are all well and this post has a shorter life-span as my most recent post than the previous one.

xoxo!

ps, now that I am really thinking about it...a few notable things have happened...we painted our dining room, got a great start on our own food storage, had a low-key but wonderful valentines day together, and determined I have TMJ. I guess my real excuse for no posts is simply lack of time and motivation. :)

A palindrome

2010-01-19T17:00:00.002-06:00

(i received this from a cousin...fascinating. I'm glad he shared with me and wanted to share it with you.)

Note that a 'palindrome' is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction (the adjustment of punctuation and spaces between words is generally permitted).

In this case, not only can the words be read in either direction (forward or backward) but the meaning is also an exact opposite. Actually, quite brilliant.

Be sure to watch it in it's entirety, both forward and backward.

Enjoy....

Granite Hot Springs

2010-01-16T14:00:00.009-06:00

Since I have known Colby, he has told me all about this fabulous place. I never imagined it would be quite what it really was, and I know the pictures do not do it justice. The forest department has taken a natural hot spring and captured the 110 degree water into a partially manmade pool. The place is 15 miles off the road, so to get there most snow mobile, dog sled or cross country ski in. We took the snow mobiles. Even with partially frozen hair after the plunge, the experience was fantastic.

{click collages to enlarge}

small detour

2010-01-16T11:12:00.006-06:00

Minus our little detour on our way to Wyoming, our week long vacation to Star Valley could not have been better. We always love when we are able to get out and visit family. Our original plan was to be in SV for Christmas, but after looking at plane tickets, we decided to forgo that option. One night at home, Colby was playing around on priceline. He looked at me with a scared face and exclaimed, "I just bought plane tickets to Wyoming." He had put in his info, thinking it impossible to actually be granted tickets, but we got them--great deal too!

Our flight there left from northwest arkansas regional airport, only 10 minutes from our house. We flew through Chicago with our final destination being Jackson Hole, wy. We arrived to Jackson 30 minutes early and were so excited, until the pilot suddendly pulled the plane back up after nearly landing. There was a snow storm and due to the large size of our plane we could not land until the runway had been cleared off more. Small planes were landing, but not us. We circled over Yellowstone for 2.5 hours (couldn't see anything except clouds though) before being redirected to SLC. Bummer. Because the conditions in Jackson were not improving the airline decided to send the plane back to Chicago (several hours later) because they needed the aircraft the next day. Passengers were told they could fly to Chicago then try to get on the Jackson flight the next day. Wow. Because it was weather related, the airline was not reimbursing any additional travel expenses. If we flew to Chicago, we would need a hotel and were not sure if we could even land in Jackson the following day. We felt bad for all the other passengers who were going to Jackson for skiing and had to lose out on hotel room reservations and ski lift passes they had already purchased. A man across the aisle from us actually ripped the armrest out of his chair because he was so mad. Lucky for us, we had no "real plans" and our vacation could be put on hold. We stayed in SLC with Aunt Malee that night, and rented a car to drive up to Idaho Falls the next day where we would meet the Heiners and go with them to Star Valley. The good side of all of this is we got to see Malee and I got to stop in real quick at Nordstrom!!

Needless to say, we were grateful to finally reach our final destination in Star Valley, 27 hours late.

Black piece is the armrest from the seat in front of it.

Merry Christmas

2010-01-13T16:57:00.005-06:00

This Christmas was a little different for Colby and me in that we spent it in Arkansas, just the two of us. I was a little unsure about the idea at first, but after looking at plane tickets a while back to visit Wyoming for the holiday, I decided Arkansas would be just great. And really, it was. Actually, it was more than great. We spent Christmas Eve with some of our favorite people in Arkansas and have an afternoon/evening with food, games, conversation and even a little nativity by the kids and Colby. We left the party and headed home to a very quiet home and loved it. After watching movies and playing games opening Christmas PJs (thanks Mom and Dad), we went to crawl into bed around 12:00. I went to lock the front door and saw SNOW outside. I opened the door and could not believe my eyes. We were having a white Christmas. To most, including Colby, this was nothing noteworthy, but to me, this was bliss. It is my first White Christmas (that I can remember)!

Santa/Colby was very good to me this year. I have been drooling over several photography sites since beginning to plan our wedding 2 years ago and have really been wanting to have a nice camera of my own to see what I could do with one. Sensing my desire to have my own hobby, Colby got me a Canon t1i and I could not be happier with it! I had been wanting this for some time and Colby made it very clear that I would not be getting one for Christmas. I was prepared to not get it--until every gift I opened was camera related--HC memory cards, tripod, SLR camera case, etc. But, I came to the end of my pile and there was no camera. I was slightly confused until Colby dragged (almost literally) me into the bedroom to make the bed and I saw it sitting on the bed. I started to cry. I love it and can't wait to learn everything about it! I know Christmas is not all about gifts, but this made for a great day. I am grateful for a great husband who understands me and supports me in my new hobby.

After gifts, we had a Jergensen traditional Christmas breakfast, omelets! They were delicious and accompanied by a phone call from Mitch in France. We wrapped the afternoon up with a trip to the theater to see Sherlock Holmes.

Christmas was wonderful being here in Arkansas. We missed our families but luckily get to see both families shortly before and after Christmas. Thanks everyone for helping make our Christmas wonderful.

christmas eve

snow

omelet sous chef

Jergensen Visit

2010-01-13T14:40:00.004-06:00

Since Colby and I were unable to visit family for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, and we just moved into a new home, my family came out to visit on a quick weekend trip the beginning of December. We loved having them here and showing them our home in NWA! We toured way too many Walmart places, played several rounds of scattergories, ate good food (depending who you ask...), napped, and just enjoyed being together. Thanks for a fun time!

"I never realized how much I appreciate Jessi . . .

2009-12-21T21:35:00.004-06:00

...until now."

--Colby, while dying my hair

Until last November, I was one of those who could tell everyone I had never dyed my hair, well except for sun-in, but that turned out horribly and I was 12, so it didn't count. I decided last November that I wanted to dye my hair a little darker for the winter. Jessi, my best friend and roommate prior to the married life, was all about this life change of mine and hurried over to our apartment to dye my hair. Colby watched tv, having nothing to do with this girl stuff.

Well, I liked the results from last year and wanted to give it another go, but Jessi is way too far away now. That is where Colby came in. He was a trooper and I actually think he slightly enjoyed the task. When I wanted to take the dye away from him for touch-ups, he hesitated to hand over the bottle. I miss my BYU girls dearly, and am hopeful to make it back to see them for lovely Juli's upcoming wedding, but so grateful to be married to a man who is willing to do the girly stuff every once in a while because he loves me.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

2009-12-05T15:37:00.007-06:00

I love Christmas and the true reason for the season. Unfortunately, the reason, the birth of our Savior, often gets overshadowed by all the glitz and glamour that comes with the season. I so enjoyed last night where we could take an hour or two to reflect on the birth of our Savior at our ward's Christmas party, "Back to Bethlehem" style. It was glorious.

We all came in Bethlehem styled clothing, listened to a spiritual message and welcoming from the Bishop, then as in old times, went to pay our "taxes" (canned food to be donated to a shelter) and signed in for the "census." We were given our coins to purchase dinner then entered Bethlehem's market. There were turned over our gold coins for plates of bread, meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables. As we ate, we watched a beautiful nativity presentation (please excuse the blurry pictures. Mary and Joseph sat with baby Joseph while angels, shepherds and wise men came and sang. These numbers were wedged between a well written nativity script and congregational singing.

I love being reminded once again why I love this season so much and how grateful I am for the sacrifice of our Savior.

Holiday candy

2009-11-30T19:08:00.006-06:00

In the Jergensen family, a holiday tradition is homemade English Toffee. Anyone who has had it understands why it is tradition and why a diet is necessary after the holidays. :) Being away from home I knew if I wanted the toffee goodness I would have to make it myself. After a few calls to my mom, success!

And I have to mention how much I loved making this in my amazing wedding pot from my Dad's siblings. They are the best pots and pans ever!! I also loved doing this in my new kitchen. Our builder was weary of building our kitchen to our request, but I wouldn't want it any other way. It was the main thing we changed from his original plan.

{disclaimer: though it appears I am the only one who worked to make the toffee, Colby helped a ton. You have to stir the toffee for about an hour and he did the majority of that! Thanks, babe!}

Deck the Halls

2009-11-29T23:50:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving has past (and we loved it) so we can now bust out the Christmas decorations. While I had Colby home I coaxed him into putting Christmas lights up on the new house! It was much more of an endeavor than we initially thought, and we had to keep laughing at ourselves. In my dad's terminology they are a little redneck-ish (meaning not perfectly straight) but we can live with that for now. I think just having lights up after being in the house for 2 weeks is quite an accomplishment. Our boxes may still need to be unpacked, but we have lights :)

We are officially home owners!!

2009-11-29T23:46:00.003-06:00

...and have been for two weeks now. With moving, blogging has moved down a bit on my to do list. Once I locate to camera with the new house pics we took moving in I will get a few up.

costumes

2009-11-10T17:20:00.004-06:00

I have some great past times of dressing up for high school dances, football games, "super cute sunday", 80's roller skating at BYU and many nights in the dorms. I am glad I can force Colby into having fun dressing up as well.

He actually is the one who protested against being costume repeater. And of course I couldn't say no (also couldn't commit to having a new costume ready in 20 minutes to be on time to the party, so we were fashionably late). And, if it wasn't for Colby and his brilliant ideas, I would have been swimming in a size 14 pirate dress, but instead I wore it with staples down the inside so it wouldn't hang off me. Pretty ingenious idea. He probably just saw me heading for the sewing box and knew that would take waaaayyyy toooo long so had to come up with an idea to stop me quick!

{disco dancers at the church trunk-or-treat}

{pirates for a halloween party}

{had to throw this pirate picture in to show Colby's classy earing. I had to remove it before he fell asleep...he had forgotten about it}

the best part---each of these 4 costumes were found at the Wal-Mart Associate/sample store for 50 cents each!!

jack-o-lanterns

2009-11-10T17:01:00.004-06:00

I love carving pumpkins, possibly more so for the pumpkin seeds I get from it more than anything (really, last year we carved pumpkins after halloween just so I could bake the pumpkin seeds...), and this year we tried to get fancy with our carvings. We were happy with the outcome.

unfortunately, we learned the hard way the impact Arkansas humidity has on the life span of Jack...

this nastiness was growing out of the witch 4 days later. yuck!!

progression

2009-11-01T20:54:00.016-06:00

It has been so fun to watch our house be built. We go out there almost every day. You could say we are a little bit obsessed--we are.

Here are WAY TOO MANY pictures of the progression of the house from Aug 21st through now. Most of you probably don't want to look at all of this, but I wanted it on here for my records.

We can't believe how fast this house has gone up. We could be closing as early as this Wednesday--yes, in 3 days!! CRAZY!

The only things left to complete are the carpet, paint/stain touch-ups, and the yard! Wowsers...

craziness

2009-10-03T22:34:00.004-05:00

This is what my bed looks like right now.

But, considering everything going on right now, I am just glad that we had dinner tonight (lunch however, did not happen.)

I took a full time job and we are building this beaut. I think this may explain the mess on my bed. Sadly, it will probably all be thrown back in the laundry bin so we can get a little shut eye tonight.

first day of work, 6:40 am, uck!

We are so grateful for these exciting changes happening in our life. Yes, life is busy and chaotic, but we really are loving it.

sidenote: we had a lovely trip to California last month that I have some great pictures I need to post. Sorry that was kind of pushed to the back burner. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!

visitors!!!

2009-09-03T11:04:00.003-05:00

We had the greatest time having Mom and Dad Heiner in town over the weekend. It was quite low-key, but we loved just being together. Because they live on a dairy farm, it is difficult for them to get away, but thankfully Kellen manned the farm so they could leave.

We spent Friday afternoon visiting with Aunt Linda in Oklahoma, then headed to Arkansas to spend Saturday and Sunday.

Mom and Dad Heiner-- We LOVED having you here! Thanks for a great weekend. Come back SOON!!

I guess it's official

2009-09-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

I think this is proof enough that we are actually enjoying Arkansas. I exchanged my California license and plates for this:

It was a little saddening (especially since I didn't get to keep my license for memories sake! Sad.) and I can't use my out of state plates as an excuse for driving like an out-of-towner, but I now feel like I fit in a little better.

2009-08-31T13:44:00.002-05:00

As I have been at work today I keep thinking about my two youngest siblings, each having just started back to school at new schools, and two other brothers starting up at BYU today. I have had a weird feeling and finally realized that it must be because this is the first fall in 17 years that I have not been heading back to school as well. It is kind of a strange realization. I guess without school though I am experiencing even bigger and better things.

Good luck to everyone who is heading back to school!

22

2009-08-27T15:48:00.007-05:00

My birthday was a week ago and it was fabulous.

Colby took me to Johnny Carino's, my favorite restaurant and had a small surprise party for me at a local ice cream place. My friend Courtney did most of the planning and it was just great. Thanks Courtney! My friends all pitched in to get me a gift certificate for a pedicure (much needed) and Colby gave me a gift card for a massage (also much needed/wanted). Haven't had the pedicure yet, but I had my hour long massage this week and it was fantastic. Too bad it was the fastest hour of my life. If only work could go by that quickly.

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate with flowers, cards, phone calls, hugs, and facebook messages! It all meant the world to me!

I am so grateful to all of the people who have been a part of my life. I am who I am today because of each of the people I have met. Can't wait to live this next year of life and see what surprises it brings!!

Enjoy some pics from the day.

One year

2009-08-15T13:55:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe it has already been a year.

I have loved all 31,556,926 seconds of it.

Not one of those seconds goes by that I don't feel like the luckiest girl in the world, married to such an amazing, let alone good lookin' man.

I love you Colby!

xoxo

now I believe it

2009-08-10T16:59:00.008-05:00

I thought our handy-dandy weather forecaster fx had to be out of whack this morning when I saw this same symbol on the screen at 8:00 am predicting "Strong PM t-storms." The beautiful, blue, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky could not turn to storms--so I thought.

Now I believe it. After a quick run into wal-mart to print some photos and grab a few goods I believed it. I stood at the exit to wal-mart trying to see my car through the sheets of rain, parked only 10 stalls back. I ran as fast as I could and only had to stop once to pick up the canned tomatoes that broke through my bag.

I was SOAKED.

We are talking jumped-into-the-pool-with-clothes-on soaked (which I almost did 3 hours ago after work because it was so beautiful out...in my bathing suit though...). Now here I am--a true believer in my trusty weather forecaster fx.

couponing

2009-08-05T20:45:00.005-05:00

--that word that has become so common these days. I had a friend get me started on this and now I understand why everyone is talking about "couponing."

Check out my great buy!

The checkout lady rang everything up and the total read "$18.22."

But then I gave her my stack of coupons (combo of target coupons and manufactures') and the total dropped to $2.69

cha-ching!!!

(when I came home and showed Colby he thought is was great, but teased me saying he had to get a picture of all this and post it on the blog. well I thought it was a grand idea and did so myself. thanks for the idea babe.)

birthday photo journal

2009-08-03T16:55:00.004-05:00

check out all those candles!

birthday nap after church

presents :)

fire hazard

mmm . . .

notice half of the back piece of cookie dough is missing . . .

the culprit. but hey, i guess it was his cake so I couldn't get mad.

pedicure! Yes, this can be a manly thing. he LOVED it.

not pictured...our sunday afternoon bikeride!

celebration!

2009-08-02T16:28:00.004-05:00

Today is the day I am celebrating the birth of my wonderful husband Colby. I could not have married anyone more perfect for me. We spent a weekend away in Branson with some friends and I was reminded once again how much I love forgetting about everything and just being with him. He seems to always know just the right things to say and do. I know he loves me because of how he treats me. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Happy birthday Colby!

Hope your 26th birthday and following year brings all you hoped for and more.

I love you!

good ol' craigslist

2009-07-29T16:48:00.002-05:00

Lately I have been spending a lot of time on craigslist looking for a decent used piano. I took lessons growing up, but haven't had the chance to seriously play in several years. I think it was after hearing Jon Schmidt's "Love Story meets Viva la Vida" that I became determined to relearn how to play. I have found several free ones--but they are usually free for a reason--a few outrageously priced grand pianos, and a few great deals that go too quickly. But while searching for pianos I have found the craziest ads. This was today's highlight:

"Are you torn with guilt over your shortcomings, but unable to relieve the torment? St. Charon is here to help. We operate a free-to-use, online confessional that puts you just minutes away from priests across the United States, and lets you submit your confessional through the internet and receive forgiveness and comfort from a local priest - without having to leave your home. Visit stcharon.org today, and see how we can help you."

Yes. We live in the Bible belt.

Let's just say I won't be using this free service.

Happy Wednesday!

arkansas friends...

2009-07-23T11:55:00.006-05:00

As our rainy season was coming to an end (actually, I don't think it really ever ends...) we found this fun friend. We call him "Jorge," named after the frog I dissected in my 8th grade science class (kinda gruesome, i know, but it is all in love) . This time Jorge is still alive. He comes out of our bushes and greets us on our doorstep nightly.

We have both read children's books with fireflys and heard of them, but never seen them until Arkansas. They are magical! As we drive around at night or dusk we see them dancing in fields. Often it looks like someone has strung a line of twinkling christmas lights. We were determined to catch them and even stayed out until midnight one night to do so. I know, we are really boring. The sad part is we never caught one! They light up for like a second, the go black for 10 or so before they light up again. We could see the light, then they would dissappear into the darkness. The next day we were smarter about this and went out at dusk so we could still see them after the glow went out. We both sucessfully caught one! I swear, we are like little kids. People driving by must think we are crazy.

Our other outdoor friends reside in the pond in the back of our complex. We have about 20 small turtles that we will visit on walks. We really enjoy all the friendly creatures of Arkansas. We haven't met the chiggers yet, and are very grateful for that.

2009-07-23T10:53:00.002-05:00

Yes, we are still alive, I just haven't been in that bloggin' mood, you know. My friend M.C. said it best when she said if blogging were a sport, it would have to be a winter sport. I guess I am just so distracted by the great weather and other things to want to sit down on my couch and blog.

Our latest adventures included a trip to Memphis to visit Darren, Brittany and cute Jefferson (Colby' brother and family) which was just wonderful. It was so fun to see you guys and spend the fourth with you. I left from Memphis and flew to California to spend the week with my family at Lake Havasu. The vacation was fabulous, but I missed my other half who was staying home being a grown-up and working. It was one of the few vacations in life where I was just as excited (if not more so) to return home as I was to get to my vacation destination! The biggest reason I haven't posted abotu this yet besides the "not being into blogging right now" issue, is that I don't have a single picture from Havasu. That is so unlike me and it is killing me. Ha. I took TONS of pics, but they were all on my parent's nice camera. They haven't had a chance to send them.

Well, there you have it. I know you were all worried. We are still alive and well.

the claytons

2009-06-26T09:59:00.002-05:00

Today one of my best friends, Jessica, is getting mariied in Utah and I am sitting here in Arkansas. I wish so badly that I could be there! I love you Jess and hope this is such a special day for you and Adam; I know it will be. You will look gorgeous, I am sure. Love you!!

K I S S

2009-06-11T16:23:00.005-05:00

Colby met these guys (well half of them)

When they weren't wearing any of this

Check it out! Weird, huh?

never been a morning person

2009-06-08T20:01:00.005-05:00

Thomas Edison once said, "you can often gauge a man's ambition by whether he hates his alarm clock or considers it his best friend." Well, I definately fall in the "Hate his alarm clock" category, but I have seen/heard of some pretty ingenioius alarm clocks. Found these today--maybe I should invest in one, or all :-/

"This alarm clock doesn’t just make noise, it breaks the snooze-button habit: after the first snooze period, Clocky rolls off the nightstand and runs away."

"As soon as you can assemble the four puzzle pieces that are popped up into the air at your predesignated time, the thing will finally shut up. That should be just enough commotion to assure that you won't go drifting back into la-la land."

"The Flying Alarm Clock wakes you up with a loud shrieking alarm coupled with a little propeller-driven key that leaps off your nightstand. To turn off the horrible racket, you have to get out of bed and retrieve the key."

My roommates used to have to suffer through my "inablitity to hear my alarm clock and actually get up" mornings and would joke about buying one of these. We never knew if they were actually real. Well folks, they are.

A year ago today

2009-06-06T15:56:00.002-05:00

I constantly find myself reminiscing about the wonderful trip I had to Europe last summer. Today I was curious about what I was doing a year ago, so I pulled out my journal. The entry I found came from one of the most memorable days of the trip;memorable because I had never been so scared in my life. This was the night Rachelle and I traveled into Paris at night to see the Eiffel Tower and Paris Opera house lit up. We saw the lights of each, but missed the RER train back to our tram which took us to our hotel. After taking a different route, waiting for a shuttle that didn't take us back, and hitching a ride with complete strangers at 2 in the morning, we made it to our hotel safely. {whole story here}

All for this picture...

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-06-03T17:08:00.004-05:00

...a few months late. :)

For my birthday (way back in August) my parents gave me this wonderful thing...

I was dying to put it on my laptop and start using it, but my laptop has been ridiculously slow. I wanted to wait until I could wipe everything off my little Dell computer and start over. Well today is that blessed day and Lightroom was one of the first programs installed on it.

2009-06-02T16:19:00.004-05:00

Dear Humidity,

Please go away. We don't like you very much.

yours truly,

Katie

i'm obsessed

2009-06-01T00:12:00.004-05:00

seriously, I just listened to this about 10 times--in a row--see,

I'm obsessed,

but can you blame me?
It's beautiful.

If only I could find a good, inexpensive {free would be fabulous} piano so I could start playing again!

Where we live...aka our house/apartment Part 1

2009-05-31T17:02:00.009-05:00

We have had several people wanting to see pictures of our Apartment and for some time we have been planning on posting pictures but now over 4 months since we moved in we finally going to post some. This will be a mult-part post made over a few days so keep checking back to see the rest of our place!

Just to give everyone a reference point this is what you walk into from the front door. Through the window you can see the fireplace.

This is the view of the kitchen from just inside the front doorstep. The door on the left goes out to our patio where in addition to our BBQ Grill there is also another door that goes into the master bedroom. We were glad that there is a bar in this place after all the time and effort we put into making those bar stools for our apartment back in Provo.

Here is just one more picture of our kitchen. We love the granite counter tops, black appliances, and the large area especially in comparison to our student apartment.

This is kind of a bland picture but you can see part of the kitchen but also a portion of the living room.

Here is our dining room. We love the table and chairs that we got from Katie's parents and the windows! There is so much light in our living room because of all the windows; we rarely need to turn on the lights. We have also been growing our own Italian herbs as you can see by some of the pots on the partial wall (Just out the window is Katie's new bike...I am sure she will blog about it in the future).

This picture was taken from our dining area and the hallway leads into all the other rooms. Straight ahead is the office area (with the chair) and the door with the towel on it is the laundry and utility room. Left before the office is the master bedroom entry and a right turn after the entryway is the guest bedroom (YES there is an extra bed in there for whoever wants to come visit).

This post is for my brother Kellen. He had this leather print of the San Diego Temple made for us on his mission. This is right outside the guestroom door. The other door that you see is the coat closet.
Also since we were just in Provo for graduation I wanted to post this picture. I got home from work one night and Katie had already framed them. It is still hard to believe that we have both finished with Bachelors degrees.

This is it for now but stay tuned as I am sure that Katie will be posting more pictures of our place.

The Rest of our Church Site Visits

2009-05-27T21:44:00.004-05:00

Here is the rest of the Church sites that we were able to visit. Having never been to these places myself I had no idea what to expect. This is certainly a spirit about these areas and many of them seemed different than I have always imagined after all these years of hearing about them.

So we walked into the visitors center and I kept thinking that it was such a weird design for a building. I kept thinking that we would look at some pictures and hear about the history and then walk down the street and see the jail. It took me until I was sitting there reading about the visitors center to realize that the visitors center is actual built around the jail!

This is a replica of the Liberty jail. It was made from the original rock and it is cut away on the back side so that you can see the thickness of the walls and how it is laid out inside.

This is the front door (The real one is in the RLDS Temple).
Joseph Smith is the feet you see on the left side of the picture. It was such a small amount of space...about the size of the key on the basketball court and the ceiling was too short for anyone to stand up. Needless to say very uncomfortable

Far West is literally in the middle of nowhere! I couldn't help but think about what this area would look like today if the Saints had never left. This site is just off the road and its cut out of some fields. Across the street is a Community of Christ chapel.

This is the monument at Far West, unfortunately the top of it is cut off.

Each of the four corner stones are covered with a glass case and they each are dedicated to something different (lower priesthood, higher priesthood, etc).

Our Journey to the New Jerusalem

2009-05-26T21:21:00.004-05:00

Over Memorial Day weekend Katie and I decided to take an extra day off and have a 4-day weekend up in Kansas City. I am sure Katie will blog about all the details and inform everyone what exactly we did but I wanted to post some pictures of the Church history sites that we were able to visit. Kansas City is only like a 3-hour drive from NW Arkansas and just outside Kansas City is Independence Missouri, Liberty Missouri, and Far West. We started with Independence. I will spare most of the details and make this more of a photo documentary. :)

This is the LDS Visitors Center. It is exactly opposite the Community of Christ (RLDS) Temple. They have several artifacts and other information about the area. Did you know that there are 25 different "break-offs" from the church restored by Joseph Smith here?

This is where 63 acres of land was dedicated for the Saints to settle and build a temple. Now only 20 is owned by the LDS Church. In the background is the "assembly hall" build by the RLDS in the 50's or 60's. It holds almost 6000 people. Below is their seal on the side.

Yet another break off from the LDS Church. Note the date it was restored. There were so many similarities to the number of various religious groups that claimed this area to be important as with the various faiths that claim Israel today.
Here is the Community of Christ Temple dedicated in 1994. It was closed while we were here at the visitors center but I convinced Katie to let me drive back the next day to do a self guided tour. (She was very reluctant)

This is from the center of the RLDS Temple looking up into the ceiling. To get inside we actually had to walk around the outside of the temple in this snail shape and angle.

This is from the balcony and shows the organ and pulpit down in the front.

This is the biggest smile that I could get out of Katie. Let's just say she was a real trooper for coming inside with me but she wasn't happy to be there. They had rooms were we couldn't take pictures where they had everything from men and women giving blessings, the original oil paintings of Emma and Joseph from Emma after her death, the original Liberty Jail door, and pictures of their 12 apostles, presiding bishopric, and first presidency.

This is from the bottom back. Just above Katie's head are translation booths. They have members in 50 countries and so they need to translate the services into different languages.

All in all it was a very interesting experience. It is amazing how close to the truth many people are but as the years pass by they is a greater and greater divide between truth and philosophies of man.

it's gonna be a busy week

2009-05-18T17:15:00.003-05:00

and here's why:

2 hour season finale

2 hour season premiere

2 night finale

and there's the line-up, folks.

ok, so our lives don't really revolve around tv, but we sure do enjoy our shows.

today

2009-05-14T18:24:00.005-05:00

this was supposed to arrive in the mail:

and hence these were the texts I received today while Colby was at work:

*Did my bike come today? I love you.

*Congrats, you are done with work! Enjoy your afternoon. Xoxo.

(sent at 2:02, I was off at 2:00. I think someone was watching the clock to see when I was off so I could check the MAIL!!)

*Hey could you also make sure to check the mail and see if my bike came slash pick it up?! Thank you so much.

(sent at 2:09. Good thing he sent me a text reminder ;) just in case the other hints and words from the night before and this morning were not enough.)

*Anything?

(sent at 2:39, minutes after I actually got home.)

*My reply: The mail doesn't come this early. Sorry
*C: Oh my heart started racing. Shoot.

*Anything??? You are killing me.

(sent at 3:38)

results: I checked the mail at 4:00 and found the package slip to go pick it up at the post office. I went and picked it up, payed the extra $30 postage that wasn't charged at the other end, and brought it home. Colby is currently assembling his beaut. I am sure pics of his outings with it will come. I have a happy, happy hubby

I squeezed out some of my creative juices

2009-05-05T15:25:00.005-05:00

and came up with these ideas/projects for our seaside themed guest bathroom:

close-ups:

{sand dollar from family trip to Cancun}

I know these aren't a-maz-ing...but, considering I have spent the last 4 years of my life studying business, I think I did pretty well on pulling out my creative side. It was fun to do and great to have complete! I think they are a nice finishing touch to our bathroom that has been sitting completely bare. Colby mentioned today that it doesn't echo in there anymore. ha.

We did it!

2009-05-05T14:29:00.003-05:00

I know this seems late, considering we actually finished school back in December, but we made it OFFICIAL by going back to Provo last week end to walk in the graduation ceremony. It was so fun to be able to graduate in the same school as my husband. Colby graduated in Business Management: Finance, I graduated in Business Management: Marketing. I even moved up in the alphabet...J to H. The best part of it all was being able to see family! Both the Jergensen and Heiner families were there to support us. Thanks!

Easter

2009-05-04T14:36:00.000-05:00

I love celebrating holidays, and Easter is no different. I love the significance of each (the resurrection of our Savior) but also the festivities of them. Because I have younger siblings, holidays are always fun because we have always had a child who "still believes" {in the Easter bunny, Santa, etc.} so we take the extra effort to make things exciting for them. Now that Colby and I are on our own, we aren't with little ones who still struggle to fall asleep due to excitement of the Easter bunny's visit. Not ready to give up the traditions, the Easter bunny still came. ;) After setting up a small egg hunt, I found out Colby had never had an egg hunt growing up and it was fun to see his child side come out as he search for 12 candy filled eggs. You would have thought they had a hundred dollars each in them seeing the way he searched for them.

checking the light fixture for the last two. Nope. Not there. {try behind the closed blinds:) }

Saturday adventures

2009-04-14T15:00:00.005-05:00

Colby and I have been wanting to go check out a lot of places around us, but once the weekend rolls around we either have TONS of errands to run or the weather is no bueno. Luckily, the sun came out of hiding for Saturday (and only Saturday) and we had a fabulous day trip down to Devil's Den, a national park just 45 minutes South of us. It was beautiful. Hiking, caves, crevices, waterfalls and creeks. Check out the pics.

cave entrance

look closely...all those little dots are bats!!

this was the part of the cave you had to walk through sideways and carry the backpack. Good things we aren't claustrophobic.

caterpillar cacoon...these were everywhere. I was relieved to figure out they didn't have anything to do with spiders.

Come visit and we will for sure take you to Devil's Den!!

Why Tony, Why?

2009-04-13T22:54:00.004-05:00

I liked you. Then you betrayed us all. Why Tony, why?

But I'm sure Jack will come and save the day. Just a lucky guess...Isn't that what he does everytime?

Colby's new friend

2009-04-13T18:44:00.002-05:00

We hang out with a lot of people out here who have kids and have quickly fallen in love with them! Last weekend we got to babysit Rachel for a few hours and had so much fun with her. Colby was so adorable with her. He played with her, fed her raisins, put on her necklace and even let her watch him on his laptop.

color

2009-04-13T16:52:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we painted our guest bedroom bay window walls this color

and a few days after that painted it again this color

needless to say, I was not very happy with the bright green walls. I hate how the color never turns out like the little paint sample. Colby informed me that we could fix it all for only 10 more bucks, so I agreed to the repaint! (Actually, the second time around we got smart and bought our paint at Walmart and got 4 times as much paint for half the price we paid at home depot. You think we would have thought of Walmart the first time around. oh well...)

Chartres, France

2009-04-07T10:48:00.003-05:00

In honor of Mitch being transferred to Chartres, I thought I would post a picture from when I was there last summer. I think it is so cool that he is right where I was a few months ago. Kinda wish I could be back there right now and see the countryside and MITCH!

Picture I took of the village behind the famous cathedral. Never thought Mitch would be walking those streets.

apron giveaway

2009-04-03T17:32:00.002-05:00

My cousin makes THE CUTEST aprons and is having an apron giveaway. Check out her Epicurean Style aprons and enter to win!

Spring has sprung

2009-03-29T16:57:00.004-05:00

. . . at least temporarily

Yesterday it was in the low 30s and snowing, so who knows how long the good weather will stay. We decided to take a Sunday drive and explore while the weather is fabulous. Sunny, 60 degrees and not yet humid.

Blossoming trees at our condo

One of the many old barns I am obsessed with. I made Colby drive me around to at least 4 today to take pictures.

Playing by the creek behind our place.

And the best part...

Fresh, hand-picked daffodils. They are in front of me as I type and they smell fabulous! Colby found them for me. :)