Home for the Holidays

The best part of this Christmas was definitely being home with our families. since the Wood's and the Jensen's live so close to each other its possible to spend Christmas with both of them instead of having to choose.
On Thursday we went to temple square with the Jensen's. Jared made the car trip really fun by starting the alphabet game and getting everyone involved. our heads were bobbing up and down and side to side scanning for letters on billboards. It looked kinda funny. Mom J had prepared lots of hot water and cookies to eat when we got cold. I especially liked seeing the lights in all the trees and getting pictures with everyone near where i proposed to Kylee last year.
On Christmas Day we went to see Grandpa and Grandma Burnett. Grandpa told stories of growing up and famous people he knows. the climax was sitting next to Andrea as she pulled her tooth out (stuck to the taffy she just bit into).
Earlier that morning we woke up to find that Santa had left us a whole shelf of food storage. Its amazing how old you can be and still believe in Santa. of course faith at this age comes with responsibility. If you are past twenty and you still believe, you get to help the younger generations believe too. trust me I do my part.
We Had a fantastic Christmas breakfast at the Jensen's. It's astounding what they can pull out of that kitchen early in the morning. Jeremy made a delicious butterscotch syrup that i was tempted to just drink straight (it was that good!). I didn't have my camera ready for most of the week but for cross reference look up Kylee's pics, Jeremy's facebook, Teresa's blog, and Heather's blog.
Sunday was a blast because Corry showed up in the morning after a nine hour drive from AZ. Family is definitely the best part of the Holidays!

Our First Christmas

This post is a bit late but I wanted to share our beautiful Christmas decorations with you!

Our Families gave us the Cutest Ornaments for our tree and we were able to get some ornaments in our colors for our tree! I love sales!

 This beautiful bird came from my Grandma {my mom's mom}. It's very old and GORGEOUS!!!

Our beautiful tree!

{More pictures to come! We got some more decorations from the after-christmas-sales and we couldn't wait till next year to put them up!}

{merry CHRISTmas}

I love this picture, it shows what Christmas truly is about......

Our Saviour's Birth!

its a SQUASH!!!

It has come to my attention that some person in my home does not approve of the sweet and filling food that comes from squash. I am not naming names but since there are only two of us I'm leaving it up to the reader to guess who. It takes a great deal of creativity and planning to come up with a menu of foods that everyone at home will eat and I tip my hat to those wonderful mothers who pull it off.
I admit as a child i did not want to eat my squash for dinner and some times even for dessert. But come on. Is there really that big of a difference between a sweet meat squash and a Pumpkin? I dare say there isn't! In fact i find it is impossible to tell the two apart after making them into a pie.
I think it is a outrage that pumpkins have had the corner on the market when it come to preferred pies. It all starts on Halloween that children become accustomed to their pumpkins and get all buddy buddy with them leaving the squash out in the cold to wait for November to come. I mean really people it comes off the same garden plot. Down with the Oppression! Down with the Selecting! And Down with the snubbing food I've slaved over a hot stove to put on the table for you!
... I love you dear.

Jake, the veggi activist

One year ago...

I got engaged to the most wonderful man :)

He surprised me by doing it earlier then I thought he would. Jake was able to get tickets to the Christmas Devotional at Temple Square. I had the most amazing time listening to the First Presidency in person and then walking around Temple Square looking at the lights.  He then led me to the 'perfect picture spot' where he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

I thought he was joking and didn't realize he was serious. I think I said "no" more than I said yes but I am glad that he asked in such a special and wonderful way. I wouldn't change anything about that day (except maybe my being totally clueless).

I love Jake so very much! He is the sweetest and kindest guy I know. 

{a special thank you to Jessica & Donnie Howell who took these pictures of us and

 recorded the proposal for us! today is their engagement anniversary too!}

When green thunbs turn wilted brown

My recent employment at Anderson's Seed and Garden has got me pretty excited about a few things. First there's all the Christmas decorations that I've been putting up for the last three months. Then there's all the seeds they will have in stock next year for a small garden. But mostly its for the cool and effortless plant I most recently bought. Its called a Paperwhite Narcissus!
You buy them as a little bulb about the size of a ping pong ball and you stick it in a glass bowl or pot about half way buried in dirt. I like having it in a glass bowl so you can see the roots as they spread out. I think the greatest part about the Paperwhite is that it grows so fast. Me and Kylee have watched it stretch at least an inch a day. It is supposed to get to 12 inches tall, with our dim apartment it has reached 13 inches already and the flowers are still a while away.
So even though its 30* outside I can still grow things(lets just hope it doesn't die on me). You've got to try it for yourself now. Go to D.I. get a $2.00 vase/bowl and fill it with soil and top it with colored marbles. Now just sit back and watch them go!

{favorite friday}

sorry that i'm a day late with these :)

1 Jake is AMAZING! I don't think i would make it through this semester alive if it weren't for him :)
2 Brown Suede Boots! They are super cute and I can't wait to get them :)
3 Garlic Toast is amazing. Whenever I'm feeling down i know this will cheer me up.
4 Our super cute Nativity set from my family :) thanks guys!
5 I desperately want a yellow wool coat....someday I shall have one
6 My amazing Tiny House! I am SO glad that it is done (well except for the construction documents)
7 I love Christmas Trees's! Our tree is adorable! Pictures are coming soon!
8 I love this shirt! Best part is....you can make it for pretty cheap :)
9 These Earrings are absolutely fantastic! I'm obsessed with fabric flower earrings at the moment.
10 Tatortots and Jello is one of my most favorite blogs! I get my craft and decorating fix everyday from them

sorry for my absence....

but I have a good excuse.  :)

You see in the Interior Design program at USU (sophomore year) you get put through this ordeal called Tiny House Heck. (they didn't say heck but you get the point). anyway, I didn't see why they called it that until a few weeks ago when this monster project came crashing down on me. 

At the beginning of the semester I was able to keep up on all my classes plus everything else pretty easily but then the workload for my ID classes kept getting heavier and as its my major and I love it ..... Interior Design became my first priority.

For my Tiny House project we have to come up with a house that is modern and around 1000 square feet total. We then get to dive in and build it in Auto Cad (2D, we get to learn 3D next semester). We do the floor plans, elevations and the site plan. Our teacher then goes through the red-lining process with us so that our line weights and everything is just right. It takes forever and can get very frustrating having someone cover your hard work with red lines. But in the end your project looks amazing so its worth it.

My Elevations on the Presentation Boards plus Me and some Classmates at the reception they held for us!

My Floor Plans and Site Plan

These are my Axonometrics. They are hand drawn and are hard until you get the hang of it :)

After those items are perfected you get to print them out and do your presentation boards and come up with a name for your house and logo. I chose 'Versprei' it means spread-out in Afrikaans.

After the Presentation Boards come the model. You have a choice to have it laser-cut and made out of wood or build it with foam-core. I chose the cheaper option which was the foam core. We had two weeks to build our model, including Thanksgiving. oh joy! we spent about 4 days building my model when Jake discovered that one of my walls was majorly crooked. Not good at all. This one wall threw everything else off and because foam-core doesn't look good when you tear it apart we had to start all over again with some new foam core. Realizing this initiated a breakdown on my part. We called it quits for the night and decided to start again the next morning (which was the day before Thanksgiving).

That next day we basically lived at the ID studio, after 15 hours of hard work my model was built! YAY! We went down to Orem Thanksgiving day and then on to Price with my family after that. Because of the snowstorm on its way and my hillside that needed to be built we came home early on Saturday night. 

We spent Sunday night and Monday morning putting the finishing touches on the house and got it done just in time to be put on display. It felt so good to finally have all the craziness of Tiny House out of the way! Plus its way cool to see your hard work on display for anyone to see. So.....if you happen to be up in Logan, stop by the USU student center on the 2nd floor and you'll see my Tiny House plus 17 others :) They are all amazing, everyone did a fantastic job!

That pretty much summarizes things :)

I have to add that if it weren't for Jake i might possibly be dead. He was the one who kept me sane, fed and made me go to bed. He also helped me organize my thoughts and made my vision of the

 house actually happen how I wanted it too. He is such a wonderful guy and 

I'm so glad he tolerates me, helps me and loves me :) 

here are some pictures of my model......

An inside look on my house, Jake did an excellent job on the furniture!

If you do end up seeing my model please be careful with it :) its my baby and I might have to

 hunt you down if it is harmed in any way. 

just sayin'