Blessings

It has been almost 2 months since we moved from that little apartment to our new bigger apartment and about 14 months since we got married. When we first got married and moved into our small home we had basically nothing. If it weren't for the furnishings we wouldn't have a  table, couch,  bed (which was horrendous) or shelves. We did not have any sheets, plates, pots or pans, towels, rugs, food, a toaster, dish washer, dvd player, pillows, or a shower curtain. I think we had a few plastic knives and forks and had old blankets spread out on the bed. We were proud of our one possession-- an old tv. We bought it a month before we got married so we could watch General Conference. Looking back now, it feels like we had nothing. But then I was just so happy to meet my new family and be married to my sweet husband to be thinking of all the things I needed but didn't have. 



We gradually obtained all the things we needed for our apartment and we loved our new life together. We were so proud of our studio apartment not only because of our cute decorations, but because it was a symbol of us and our things and our new life together. It was home. It was such a peaceful and loving place where we knew the Spirit dwelt . We loved being, "at home."

                        Our old studio

                Cory taking down our curtains

A couple of months ago we were blessed with the opportunity to move to a 2 bedroom 4-plex. With DOORS and a Dishwasher!!! And the kitchen is not in the living room!!! We were blessed enough to buy a couple of couches and a tv stand and a bookshelf right before we moved. We moved into the apartment knowing we probably wouldn't be able to have cable, or buy a few other furnishings for a while, and I would definitely have to work a little bit more. As we moved in and organized everything, we got the same feeling we did when we were moving into our first apartment. We loved arranging our home and making it ours.

                                  Old Kitchen....
     

                              New Kitchen...!


Since we moved in, we have received many small and big blessings. First, we were able to find a cheap microwave which we really needed. It is perfect. Cory loves it because it matches the other appliances in the kitchen. When we plugged in the tv, we noticed we had cable for some reason. As it turns out, the Comcast man probably didn't disconnect the cable properly with the previous tenants. So we got FREE cable for a couple of months.( Which of course we didn't "need").  A couple of weeks after living in our apartment Cory got a promotion! This was one of the biggest blessings which we are so thankful for. Because Cory got this job, we were able to buy a kitchen table, a dresser, two side tables, and a new tv of course. :) We also found a cheap vacuum! It was filthy when we bought it. Cory spend 2 hours cleaning it and now it is sparkly clean and works So So good! I love to vacuum! My phone has been falling apart the past few months, and we were able to buy new phones!  Cory also bought me a keyboard. I've been wanting one for quite some time but we didn't have anywhere to put it. But now we do!

                               New couches!

                             Our new table

Thinking about how far we have come since we first got married to now, we just feel so incredibly blessed. We have worked for everything we have. I am so thankful for my husband. He is such a blessing in my life. He always takes care of me when I'm not feeling well. I love how every morning after he wakes up he gives me a little massage. He is always there to talk to me. If I need advice, he gives it to me. I love how he must have everything in perfect order. I love that he likes to shop with me and pick things out for me. I love that he loves Twilight and wants to go see Eclipse with me. I love how yesterday he wore his t-shirt that says, "Real men read Twilight," all because the new movie came out. I love that he likes to match what I wear. I love that for holidays he will dress up in the appropriate colors with me. I love how he supports me in anything I want to do. Even if it's stupid. I love it when he laughs so hard during those bug commercials. I love him. I am so thankful we were married in the temple and have marriage covenants. He means everything to me. I am thankful we have received these blessings together and can enjoy them together.

2 Dozen Years Old

Cory turned 24 on Monday and boy was he surprised when he woke up to SNOW...??? Why did it have to snow on my honey's birthday? The rest of the day wasn't too bad except that he had to go to school. He was lucky enough not to go to work though! But he spent the whole day studying. But he did have time to take a few breaks.
His birthday celebration began a over week before his birthday. I bought him a few shirts that I was planning on giving to him on his birthday. But of course he wanted to go shopping to the exact places I had already gone to. So I just gave in and showed him his presents early. And of course after that we went shopping even more. But we had a lot of fun doing so. We went to Tucanos for dinner the following Monday and he LOVED it. I didn't think he would ever be done eating. He just kept going and going long after I was full. On Sunday night Amber and Warren stopped by to sing and give him some carrot cake. On Monday I bought him a cake instead of making one like last year... Unfortunately they spelled his name wrong even after I clearly verbally spelled out C-O-R-Y. oh well. It was still yummy.

(You can see the "e" that does not belong in his name)

I also gave him one of his favorite movies, Wolverine. That night we went to Cory's favorite restaurant Outback with Amber and Warren. That was fun too. But today, the big one came.  We bought a brand new tv with a Blu-ray player built in!!! This has got to be the best present he has ever gotten.

But Cory has more good news...

He got an amazing promotion at work. He has moved up in the world from lame Latin American sales to product support. This means no more Spanish speaking (even though he is fabulous at it), full time, normal hours (8:00-5:00), benefits, insurance, and a HUGE pay raise. WHOOPEE!  So, we will be staying in Provo forever and will be starting a family soon..... JK. That is so not true. The downside is we will be in Provo an extra 3 months than planned. We'll start Palmer in June instead of March. The upside, more money, we don't have to sell our contract, and maybe I'll have a chance finding a full time dental job once I'm done with school in December.  So my poor Cory has been juggling school and his new job. Things will mellow out in the next few weeks though and not be so stressful. We've had an eventful past few days. But Cory had a good birthday. Thanks to everyone who called and texted him!

fat.

I never understood what it was like to feel overweight... until now. I thought I would never gain weight. Ever. Then somewhere in the last few months, I began to feel my stomach jiggle while driving down University Ave. I am very surprised by my little pooch. (That's what she said) People who haven't seen me in awhile probably are surprised as well since I have only gained weight on my stomach it seems. And I can't help but wonder what these people think of me now that Cory and I have moved to a 2 bedroom apartment... I am just so thankful for my thoughtful husband who bought me all 3 Kim Kardashian workout DVDs for Mother's Day. I love him. I love Kim. Tony Horton, not so much. Now this way while Cory is doing his kenpo, I can be doing my Kim PO.   

Our Iowa Trip

We loved going to Iowa to see Palmer. The school was very old. We knew it was the oldest chiropractic college in the world, but we weren't expecting it to still look so old. And Davenport turned out better than we expected. It may even be bigger than Provo. Our hotel room had an excellent view of the Mississippi river.





In this picture you can see the casino that's in the river. So if Davenport is big enough to have huge casino, it must be a normal city right?? Of course, that is what we concluded. Besides, we loved being right off the river.


Cory in front of the statues of the ancient Palmers.


Us in front of the statues.


And me.

The quad cities were great. We met a nice woman from on of the Quad cities who delivered our Chinese food. She came in to our hotel room and talked to us for awhile. And she made sure to invite us to the church she goes to.

We also got to stop in Nauvoo for a few hours. We visited Old Nauvoo and the temple. And we also got to see my Uncle Alan and his family who lives there. We had so much fun visiting them. They played the piano for us and we got custard together. (Which was the BEST custard we have ever tasted by the way) We are so excited to move there to be close to them!


I was waiting for Cory to set up the timer on the Camera.


And this is us caught running up to pose. Unfortunately there was not a soul around to take our picture for us.

All in all, we had a great trip. The 2,200+ mile drive both ways was fun. We stopped at a few interesting motels which made our trip memorable. And we feel great about going to Palmer.

March = The Month of Palmer

Cory is now in the "Provisional Status" at Palmer College of Chiropractic which basically means... He's in! All he has to do is finish up his classes at BYU. So, this Saturday we'll be going to Sundance for their annual dinner. We're hoping to win another t-shirt. But we are mostly excited for the sensational dessert.

On the 28th we'll be DRIVING to Iowa for orientation and to scope out some future apartments. And of course we are both looking forward to the tour of Palmer and the historical facts of it. We are hoping we'll be able to go in the basement where a collection of human penis' were kept.

Boy are we excited!

Stay tuned...

Christmas

We loved going to Arizona and meeting our new nephew Andrew (Tyler & Ashley's new baby!) He was so cute and such a good baby! We feel in love with him the second we saw him. Cory was so sweet with him.





We got some Christmas PJ's :)


Tyler took us all to the driving range. Cory learned a little more about golf and was doing really good! He hit a few hundred balls which gave him a couple blisters on his hands. My poor baby. But he did great hitting!





We also went to the Phoenix Zoo to see the lights. They were beautiful. We had a lot of fun there.


Me, Ashley, and Carissa all got to ride on a camel. That was a lot of fun.





My good bye to baby Andrew.

Black Friday

Cory and I were STOKED for Black Friday this year. Our goal was to find a great deal on a printer due to the fact that we didn't have one. We searched the adds and found a wonderful deal at Best Buy. Of course we were a little hesitant because Best Buy is one of the most craziest stores. We decided to just go and be aggressive and brave.

Friday morning we woke up at 3:50am and headed to get some hot chocolate at 7 eleven (MMMMMM SO yummy!) We got to Best Buy at 4:30 and waited for the doors to open at 5:00. Surprisingly, we were not the last ones in line even though there were campers who stayed the night. As soon as the doors opened, we stepped right in and found our way to the printers. There were only 3 left!!! We grabbed one and headed for the check out line which didn't even have a line yet! We were out of Best Buy by 5:10 with our brand spankin' new printer for only $25 on sale from $70-$80. We did SO good.

We headed straight over to Target which also opened at 5:00am. We were hoping to get something there (a gift) but had doubts there would not be anymore by the time we arrived. It was jammed packed and super crazy there. Amazingly, we got what we wanted!!! We could not believe it. We got some other gifts and stood in a very long line.

Following Target, we went to Shopko (Orem), Kohl's, Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, McDonald's (For breakfast. Gotta love those McGriddles!!), Roberts, then Shopko in Provo. We shopped for over 6 hours! But we got everything we needed and wanted and our Christmas shopping is now done!! Yahoo! Then we went home and put up our cute little tree with fiber optics. We love it. And we put up our lights in our one apartment window. This was by far the best Black Friday! We had a TON of fun!