Mamma Mia!

So my Mom, my Grandma and I went and saw Mamma Mia today. Despite the obvious sexual references the movie was really good! Surprisingly my mom absolutely loved it! Who'd have guessed it!? We came home and immediately bought the soundtrack! I'm listening to it right now! I absolutely loved the actress who played Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), she was adorable and had the best voice out of all of the cast! Meryl Streep did a very good job as well, she danced and ran around the whole movie! She put great emotion into the songs, which I appreciate, and in fact made my mom cry and my grandma want to hold our hands! (geez!) The most awkward part (other than the gay references at the end) was watching Pierce Brosnan sing his heart out! Very awkward! Overall it was great entertainment, and the scenery was breathtaking! I can always appreciate another good musical!

Husband to-be

I have to take a few minutes and just blog about my amazing eternal companion to be! I just cannot begin to imagine why on earth I deserve to be with such a wonderful man! He is so thoughtful and sweet! He's always trying to make me happy, and whenever I mention this fact he shrugs it off like it's nothing. He constantly compliments me! I remember when we first started dating I had a conversation with my mom about how much he compliments me. I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn't take all the sweet things he said, I got embarassed and I'd try to make jokes to relieve the awkwardness I always felt. Now it's just a wonderful bonus that I've learned to appreciate. I realize there are many husbands around the world who don't take the time to tell their wives how much they love them, or need them, or how beautiful they think they are; I can assure you that this reality will not be mine! I can be dressed in my grungy pjs and have mascara smudged under my eyes, and I flash a smile to the man of my dreams and I'm suddenly the most beautiful woman on the planet. He works so hard to take care of me, already, and is so appreciative of the little things I do for him. I never imagined a man as wonderful as Steven. I'm so very blessed and I write this now, so I can look back when I'm stressed, or upset, and I can know I made the right decision, and I'm very grateful.

Picnics, Parties, and Summer Fun!

Here's an update on our Summer so far.
I meant to post these happenings as they came but we took all the pictures on Steven's camera so I haven't had a chance to upload anything until now. I've put a slide show at the bottom of the post so you can see all the pictures that associate with the stories! Just scroll your mouse over the picture if you want to see the captions!
First things first. Steven and I decided we needed a propane grill. So we bought a small one for cheap one night. It was about 8 o'clock when Steven got off of work so we headed out to a small park by the snake river. Unfortunately the second we unpacked everything swarms of mosquitoes attacked so we shoved everything back in the car and drove to a park closer to home. We unpacked everything and Steven began setting it all up. Once we had it set up we were ready to eat, since it was getting close to about 9:30 or so. Unfortunately our propane tank had a different idea in mind! It wouldn't work for the longest time and Steven was getting frustrated while I ate my weight in pringles. Finally we got it to work and had the best hot dogs ever!
The next weekend we had another BBQ with our little grill. My roommate Ali and her boyfriend Sam decided to join us and we had a wonderful time!
We were home to Utah this last weekend for the fourth of July. We had a big party with my family and Steven's as well. His mom and youngest brother drove down from Mountain Home and decided to spend some of the holiday with us. It was a wonderful party and I think everyone had a great time! We watched fireworks at the Sandy City Council building. They were awesome! Then we went back to my house to light some of our own and two cops came, claiming we weren't allowed to light off fireworks south of 13800 south. BOGUS! Had we crossed the street apparently there wouldn't have been a problem. That's dumb! There's more brush and dead weeds across the street from us than in our own front yard. WHATEVER!!!
The next day we went to Lagoon. It was way fun, but incredibly hot! It was pretty nice in the morning when we first got there, and the lines weren't too long. By about 2:00 it was busy and the lines were super long, so we ended up leaving around 6 or so. It was a great day and I had a blast!
Now we are back in Rexburg, I have one week left of school, then I'm back home before the wedding. There's 27 more days!!! I'm so excited! The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having Steven stay in Rexburg for work, while I'm in Utah! Time is ticking by and Life is good! Love you all!!

Good Movies, Tests & Plans

So we've seen a couple of good movies recently. Last night we watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. It was pretty good, but the night before we watched Amazing Grace. It's PG which you don't find a lot of now adays, and I just loved it! It's a story of the politician who worked so hard to get Parliament to pass a law outlawing the slave trade. It's very inspiring and I found myself so grateful for the way the Lord has guided and directed key players in our world's history to bring about His work and glory. If you're looking for a film to watch as a family I fell in love with the remake of Jhonny Lingo! I didn't want to watch it before because I thought it would be too cheesy and I expected it to fail in comparison with the classic BYU film. Well I was wrong. My adorable fiance convinced me to watch it and I thought it was adorable! I'm looking forward to owning it myself and one day watching it with my little family.

Steven served his mission almost 7 months ago in Uraguay. He learned to speak Spanish there and also has the opportunity to use it at work on occasion. Here at school they have the option for you to test out of language classes. You take three tests and get two letter grades and a pass or fail grade equalling in 12 credits. The average score on the Spanish test is an A on the first a B on the second and a Pass on the third (meaning you don't do well enough to accept a grade so you take the pass). Well Steven took these tests today, he needs this next semester (fall) and one more credit in order to get his associates degree. He hardly studied for the test so we were both a little nervous but he did so good!!! He got a 91 on the first test a 95 on the second and a 98 on the third!!!! I'm so proud of him! He met me after class to let me know how he did on the test and you could tell he was so surprised that he did so well, but so pleased. He told me that while he was taking the test he thought about me and decided that he wanted to do well so I would be proud of him! I had to blog about it because I think he is amazing! He has so much potential and he's incredibly smart! I'm so lucky to be marrying such a capable individual, and his good looks are just a bonus!

The end of the semester is quickly approaching and I'm getting so excited to be home and to get married! We did figure out what we are going to do for the reception. We want to have root beer floats and purple cows and sprite floats as well. We're looking into getting fountain drinks instead of buying a bunch of two liter soda bottles. If anyone has hook-ups let me know! That's all I can think of at the moment! Life is great, my only concern is catching up on my schoolwork but I'll be able to take care of that no problem! :)

Just another update!

Sorry about the lack of posts, I guess you readers are used to it by now though! Thanks for all the well wishes with the engagement. We are still incredibly happy and with every new day I become more and more convinced that Steven and I are meant for each other. We've done really well in planning the wedding. It's amazing how things have just come together in a very affordable way! I have my dress, we've planned the flowers, booked the rentals, booked the cake, panned some centerpieces; which reminds me...I'm going to need some scrapbooking help friends! Any of you who might be interested I would love to have a scrapbook party with you sometime when I get home from school in July. I need to scrapbook about 24 copies of the same 18 pages for the reception. A special shout out to my Aunt Brandi, I'll bet we could convince Steve to come and help Ryan watch the kids one night so I could elicit your help!!! They'll be simple since I have to make so many, but I need good craftsmen! Alright, tangent over...anyway we have gotten a lot done and the days continue to click by! As of today the countdown is at 53 days left. It's less than two months away and I can't believe it!! We're still working on the announcements and hopefully we'll have those out the second week of July. We are still trying to figure out what we can serve at the reception. I want it to be something different, something quirky! We were thinking of going with otter pops, just cause Steven and I love them, but I think I would want something else to serve with that!? If anyone has any ideas that would be great! School is going well, I'm sick of being here and I'm not looking forward to going in the fall just cause I'm worn out, but I'm sure after the break I'll be rejuvinated enough to kick back in for my final two semesters. Steven is thinking more about going into Biology with a focus on environmental biology. I've decided whatever he's going to be happy with is best for us. He just got a new job at Verizon wireless here in town, which was such an answer to prayer! He was working for a framing company in Idaho falls, so he had to drive 30mins there and back, and he didn't really feel comfortable with it, they didn't train him very well and they weren't very patient. It was rough for a few weeks and then there was no work for him to do for about 3 more weeks! That was really frustrating! So we began job hunting and now Steven works with my roommate Ali and her boyfriend Sam. He seems to be the floater, with weird hours in weird locations which is kind of irritating to me, since it makes me think they don't consider him a full time employee, and boy oh boy do we need him to be a full time employee. But the plus side is that he's close, the work is good for him since he gets to interact with people, he gets paid comission, and he doesn't have to shower when he gets home from work!! We figured out where we are going to live too! The second counselor in our bishopric, Brother Wolther, is moving out of his house and he suggested that we might be able to move in once their out. They rent from this couple in Idaho Falls, I think, and they have the whole upper floor to themselves. The basement has been converted into 3 rooms for 6 girls to rent out. I wouldn't wish their living space on my worst enemy! Rachel, Brother Wolther's wife, says she doesn't do much with the renting. She doesn't advertize for it, she doesn't worry if it gets full or not, she just takes care of them once they sign up! Right now only one girl is living there, which sounds good, but still! Our area of the house is great though! It's a cute little place right across the road from Porter Park, which is pretty close to campus. We have two bedrooms 1 bath, a kitchen and a living room area. We have a backyard with a shed, and a washer and dryer. Steven and I already have plans on improving the space! I think we're really going to enjoy our first place together! That's about all I can think of, ok not really but I have to start on some homework!

Engagement Pictures

Hey everyone! Steve and I have been making great headway with the wedding plans. It makes me really happy! :) We got our engagement pictures back this weekend and I finally have the beautiful ring on my finger! I've included the link to our photos below. Hopefully you'll like looking at them! Our favorites are DSC_0238, DSC_0496, and DSC_0446! Colors wise we like 0238, but I really like the other two! So wish me luck in deciding on them!!! Love you all!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26038389@N08/sets/72157604862150586/