Elves

We got bored. So we did this......

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ShT7cmfayDC1lcCRXyc2

Then we did this....

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Y2i4coznbYBEBW966yuo

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we headed down to Arizona to spend time with Momma, Tyler, Ashley, Baby Andrew, Amber, Warren, and Carissa. We had a lot of fun!

Since Andrew's birthday was two days before Thanksgiving, we had party for him.

Happy 1st Birthday Andrew!

We had lots of yummy food on Thanksgiving.

Cory and I made our delicious apple surprises

We went to the park.

Ashley got this cool shot. Isn't it awesome?!?

We got a ton of DVD's at Wal-Mart for Black Friday. We also got  amazing deals on our Christmas gifts. After Wal-Mart we went to Kohl's, Target, Old Navy, and Sports Authority. We were so tired that day!

Warren's birthday was on Black Friday so we had yummy Mexican for Warren's birthday dinner.
Saturday we had a party for Warren!

Happy Birthday Warren!

We had lots of playing with baby Andrew...

We stopped at Hoover Dam

Minus driving in the snow we had a GREAT trip. We LOVE being with our family.
On the way down we had a minor accident. So for now, we are driving this.....

It's Official!!!

As of November 2, 2010 Cory is officially accepted to Palmer College of Chiropractic!!! Hooray! We are so thrilled. We cannot wait to get started and head out to Iowa. :)     Last week, Palmer mailed Cory a hat. (as pictured) It was so random. We were not expecting it. It came in a little box with no note or letter. We had a good laugh with that.

I am so proud of Cory. He has worked hard. And pretty soon we'll be moving on to the next stage in our lives. We can't wait!  Congratulations Cory!!!

Lately...

I love fall. The smells, leaves, weather, everything. This is my favorite time of the year. I am also reminded of when Cory and I started dating. We did lots of Fall time activities. And..... Tomorrow we will have been married for a year and a half!! So, congrats to us!

So I know my birthday was over a month ago. But I got a birthday card from Benihana. So we went a few weeks ago. I have always loved Tepanyaki but Cory had never been. So we went and it rocked. Cory loved it. Unfortunately, I was getting over an infection when we went. So I couldn't enjoy this dinner as much as I would have liked to. But it was still magnificent. They took our picture! I think ALL restaurants should do this.

I look like a poor cancer patient. Cory looks like he is doing his ill friend a favor by taking them out for dinner.

 So... I checked out one of my old YW leaders blogs. Her name is Chelsea and she is super cute. She made the cutest earrings out of buttons and I just absolutely had to try it. So I did. But somehow my little craft project turned into Cory's little craft project. He told me we had to get a saw from Home Depot so he could complete this craft project. When we got home, he immediately went to work. He loved it. And I loved that he wanted to make me earrings. They turned out great! Thanks Chelsea for this fabulous idea!!!

Because I love Fall so much, I wanted to make a lot of Fall time treats. Last weekend I made these pumpkin cheesecake things with a ginger snap crust. I thought they were delicious. But Cory did not. We ended up having a small Halloweeny party last night. Me and Cory and Amber and Warren made some great stuff....

A & W's Monster Claws. (Chicken Fingers)

Cory's Halloween eyeballs ( deviled eggs)

A & W's pumpkin cake!!!

My homemade wassail. It smelled SOOO good!

And my pizza mummies. Don't laugh. They tasted good at least.

Trevor and his girlfriend Karin stopped by and made us muddy buddies! Delicious! We watched the Halloween Charlie Brown. Classic. Me and Trevor used to watch it all the time! Cory bought me a 3-pack of Charlie Browns. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All-in-all we have had a great month. We are excited for the holidays. And we can't wait for Black Friday.

R.I.P. Tail-Feather

On September 25, 2010 our beloved Tail-Feather the fish passed away. Cory and I are so sad. He brought us so much joy. We loved to watch him swim upside down, sideways, and around in circles. He could really shake his behind. We loved watching his streamer like fins hang down as he swam his specialty. He was one of a kind. You had to know him to truly understand. I have no clue how old he was. At least 5 years.

My friend James gave us these 4 fish for our wedding. Cory fell instantly in love with them. And now we are down to 3 fish. We remember watching Tail-Feather swim around just the night before. But the next day, I noticed him very still, floating on a shell. That was not like him. Cory said he was dead but I didn't believe him. I poked him and he didn't move. That was when I knew Cory was right. Tail-Feather was really dead. I made Cory fish him out of his tank. Here are some pictures of the ceremony...

His Burial Box

Cory spoke a few words at this point. Before we buried him in the dumpster.

His resting place. (As we know it)
Cory made his headstone.

Rest in Peace Tail-Feather. You will be greatly missed.

21

One week ago today I turned 21. I don't usually feel different on my birthdays. But this one I definitely felt different. I was finally an "adult." I couldn't help but thinking about how the next time I go on a cruise I won't need a chaperone. Or that my license will now read horizontal. I actually felt like an "adult" And I had a great day.

I went to school. Got a great parking spot. Got a 4 out of 4 on my quiz. Came home. Skipped work. Laid around on the couch watching tv. Took a nap. Woke up and went to Olive Garden with Amber and Warren and my hot husband. Then was surprised with a cake back at A&W's place.

At 10:00 we all went to Comedy Sports. I saw one of my BFF's Brittany. She was in line too. Practically made my night. We met up with Trevor and his date inside. I laughed my guts out and came home to bed. Saturday Cory took me birthday shopping! I got some cute skirts and some other things. Cory also allowed me to get a few girly movies from RedBox. I also got some good Mexican food that night. I had a great weekend. It was ideal.

I am so glad I am finally 21. I've looked forward to this day my whole life. Growing up, I couldn't wait to be 8. Then 12. Then all I cared about was being 16. Then 18. Now 21. The next big step is 25 so I can rent a car and a golf cart on Catalina Island. But really being 21 is a lot more fun than being 25. The best years of my life are right here. So I am going to live it up!

SAN DIEGO!

Cory and I spent the weekend in San Diego. Tyler and Ashley and Andrew were able to come with us. We all had so much fun! Cory and I left early Friday morning and stopped in Las Vegas on the way down. Cory's favorite TV show is Pawn Stars. So we decided to stop by the shop. It was so cool to actually go there. When we first arrived they were filming. So we had to wait outside in the 110 degree weather for an hour. But it was worth it! When we first walked in we saw Rick filming! It was so cool. Cory loved it! We got him a Gold and Silver T-Shirt and me a magnet of course. Cory recognized a few things from the show that they had in the store. It was really neat and definitely made Cory's day.

Friday night we stayed the night in Chula Vista at a really crappy Best Western. We will never again stay in a motel/hotel with doors facing the outside rather than the inside. We have learned our lesson. There were bugs. Lots of them. The air conditioning didn't work. The shower was clogged. It was humid and nasty. We have had bad experiences with these types of motels in the past. But this visit was especially bad.

Saturday morning we met up with Tyler and Ashley and Andrew and checked in to our hotel. We stayed at the Catamaran Resort and honestly loved every second there. They let us check in at 11:00am instead of 4:00pm! And they upgraded our room! We were all so thrilled! And the resort was beautiful. I loved it! The landscaping was spectacular! And they had parrots. Ha.
After we checked in we explored Coronado a bit. It was beautiful there. Then we went to Mission Beach and played in the sand. Then Cory and I went to the resort's beach on mission bay. We relaxed in the sun and spent some time alone. We had fun. :)

Sunday we spent most of the day at the San Diego Zoo. We walked a lot. And we were all tired. But it was a lot of fun. And I took plenty of pictures of the Koalas. Which is one of the reasons why I wanted to go. They had a lot more there than I had expected. And they were all so cute! I just wanted to pick them up and take them home with me so we could cuddle. I have always loved koalas. My whole life. But now I think they are officially on my top 3 lovable things. Number 1 is Cory of course. Number 2 is my Google phone. And number 3 are koalas.

That evening we took a ferry ride around the bay. The view was gorgeous! And it was relaxing, no matter how boring; we all kind of thought it was boring...Cory especially. :)

Monday we drove home. It was sad to leave. We had a lot of fun. And we loved playing with Andrew. He has such a cute personality. We are so glad Tyler and Ashley came with us! This was the best Labor day weekend of all time. Definitely beats canning peaches!

Sock

Last week during my twice a month visit to the laundry mat, I found something. I really hate doing laundry. And I especially hate doing laundry in a public place. But this specific day made the event a bit more enjoyable. Once all four loads were drying in the dryer, I happened to look up above the counter on a half wall behind the washers. I noticed something that looked familiar. A black sock. There are tons of black socks in the world. Really. There are. But it seems most people wear white socks. I only wear black socks. I do not know why I decided to pick the sock up to examine it. I usually try not to touch too many things at the laundry mat. But I did. And to my surprise, it happened to say "no nonsense" on it. Which is one of the same brands I have. I also happened to be missing one of my "no nonsense" socks. So I took it home with me! I know there is a chance it is not my sock. Which is why I am going to wash it thoroughly. But really? How could it not be my sock? It's definitely mine. And finding this sock brightened my day a little. Now only if I could find my little brown face towel I lost at the laundry mat...

Graduate from BYU.... CHECK!

I am so proud of Cory for graduating! He is one step closer to becoming a real adult. We had so much fun with Tyler & Ashley and baby Andrew in town. And Cory's mom Cathy got to be with us for her birthday! We all took her out to P.F Chang's for lunch and had birthday dinner and cake at Amber and Warren's. I hope she had a great birthday. We love her so much!

On Thursday I had my last final. I was so glad to be finished with school and to start my summer! Later we attended Cory's commencement and had dinner at Iggy's. 

Friday was the big day. Cory walked and received his diploma! After we headed to the bookstore to get him some BYU keepsakes. I got him a nice blanket. (Which I love) I also got him a BYU ornament and a BYU magnet to add to our collection.  But the biggest present Cory got was an alumni ring. He loves it! We also got mom the cutest hoodie that says, "BYU Mom" That afternoon we had a BBQ at the park across the street. We played a little horse shoes and had some tasty Brats.

Saturday we decided to go up to Salt Lake to stop by  "This is the Place" monument since none of us have really been there. Then we had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory and said goodbye to Tyler at the airport.

After church on Sunday, Me and Cory, Amber and Warren, and Mom took a drive through Nebo Loop. It was beautiful! None of us had done that before and it was a lot of fun.

Monday, Me and Cathy had the day to ourselves! We lounged around in the morning watching TV. Then we decided to ride the ski lifts at Sundance. It was SO much fun! When we first got there it was raining so we had to wait for the storm to pass. I am so glad it rained though because the smell of rain and woods... while sitting on a cabin deck... watching the rain fall...while having a great conversation was AMAZING. It was beautiful up there! And it was nice and cool by the time the storm passed. Afterwards we had lunch together at Subway and took GREAT naps on the couch.

When Amber and Warren and Cory got off work we all had FHE and Amber cooked us dinner. Then we spent the rest of the evening bowling! It was such a great day! We all had to say goodbye to Mom though because Tuesday morning I dropped her off at the airport to head back to NC. We love having Cory's family in town. They are THE best. We all had so much fun. We wished everyone could stay longer! And baby Andrew is so stinkin' cute!

Now we are enjoying our break from school. And it feels SO good to not have to study or do any homework. Having finals and graduation was a bit stressful. I'm a diligent list maker. And everything on my list must be crossed off by a certain time. I usually am very good at getting everything on my list checked off. But last week as I was studying for finals and trying to get everything in order before Cory's family came in, I got a little sick. I couldn't get up to do what I needed to do. And I was stressed out over not being able to complete everything on my list. Cory helped me understand that if there is something on my list that doesn't get done, it's not the end of the world. He helped me carry on and forget about the other things I wanted to do.

This time reminds me of the week before our wedding. It was the only time I have ever felt so stressed. I had finals, Cory's family to meet and host, no where to live, realize I was actually getting married, my wedding arrangements to get in order without any help from my family, and the emotional stress and problems my parents were throwing at me.  I have really been able to see the Lord's tender mercies. I do not see how I was able to emotionally handle all of that. I truly believe I would not have been able to physically or emotionally make it through my last week of being Celeste Jerome without the Lord, close friends, and Cory's loving family and my extended family. I not only made it through that week, but also did well in my classes and not once got sick or got a headache (which is a miracle for me). Amber gave me a place to stay for a few days and helped me tremendously with wedding plans. Maddison not only was my maid of honor, she also listened to me complain and did way more than she needed to.  Her family was even there for me. Her mom Michelle did my make-up for cryin' out loud!  They probably don't know this but that morning before I got married her whole family made me feel so much better. Even Meg who was getting ready for her Prom made me like a bride. I walked out of their house feeling reassured and ready to get married. My roommate Jaimie did my hair. All of Cory's family -whom I had never met- all reached out to me. They took care of me and helped me through those last days. Perris gave me a car to use. And she and Jimett were there for me and did everything they could to help me. They too made me feel so much better about myself. Cory was so patient and caring. He helped so much! He was there with me every step of the way. And the Lord. I never once felt like I couldn't do it all. I constantly was reassured of the decision I had made. I felt loved and comforted. I was handed loving people to support me. It was because of Him I didn't have an emotional breakdown or get a terrible migraine. I have come to understand this more this past week. I am very grateful for the people in my life who love and support me no matter what the circumstance may be.

And now Cory is graduated. He says he didn't deserve to graduate. But he did. He did work hard. School may come easier to him than others, but he definitely worked hard. I'm proud of him. REAL proud. In a few months he'll start all over. Another, "first day of school." Another four years. Another graduation.