Hello again! :)

Wow! I have REALLY slacked this time! But I sort of have a good excuse... we've moved to Jacksonville, Florida for Law School. When we first got here, we didn't have any internet... Or really ANYTHING for that matter. We were sleeping on a twin sized air mattress for the first couple weeks. :) Our Bishop was so nice to let us borrow it!

We've come a long way since then though. :) Thanks to Sharelle, we now have a bed, a couch and 2 matching chairs, two lamps, (the living room set all came together) a table and 4 chairs which used to belong to Sharelle and are way nice, a super cute ottoman, a little bedside table, and many more things. She was so sweet and found all of this for us and they were all at really great prices.

Then, Mom and Dad Smith came for a visit with Tanner and they brought down a TON of our stuff from our storage unit. We hadn't had time to move our things down from Utah between summer sales and school so they were so sweet and stuffed their carry-on bags full of our things! We are definitely blessed with GREAT family!

Because there is so much to cover, and I don't want to make this long and boring... I'll just make a list of things that have happened to quickly get you up to date and hopefully I will be more consistent with future updates... :) Sorry! You should see my journal... it's even worse... I REALLY need to work on that.

Okay, here's the list in no particular order:

1. Garrett is in Law School and he is doing so well. He is SO awesome and I am so proud of him! He's beginning his gear-up for finals so, keep him in your prayers! :)

2. Garrett and I have been made the ward missionary couple! :) We're companions!!! YAY!!! And NO TRANSFERS! :) We are so excited and have LOVED this calling so far! We get to meet with families one on one and help train them in missionary work! It is so much fun and we have so many incredible families in our ward!

3. There is a man named John doing a paper on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and what we believe and it has been cool seeing him each week at church and being able to answer any questions that he has. We're all hoping that this "investigating" will become more than just a homework assignment. :)

4. We have been crazy about chips and salsa lately. :) We made homemade salsa the other night, and today I am trying a recipe for homemade (from scratch) Tortilla chips! We'll see how it goes! :)

5. We were the King and Queen of hearts for Halloween. :)
 ...i really thought this list would be longer... haha I guess not much happens in three months... :)

6. Last, but most certainly not least... :) WE'RE HAVING A BABY! :) We are on week 15. :) Soon we'll know boy or girl. :)  WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! :)

Anyway, I guess you didn't miss much. ;) haha. I hope all is well with you!

Until next time! :)

Mini Cheesecakes! Mmm!!!

Okay, So remember in the last post how I told you that Garrett and I went shopping? :) Well, while were there, strolling the aisles at Kroger, we happened upon a small display of many cute and wonderful cooking tools. :) They had molds for cake pops of all shapes and sizes, trays for muffins and cupcakes, creative treat ideas and recipes, and one thing that especially caught my eye... :) It was so cute just sitting there on the shelf. I could hardly contain my joy as I lifted it to get a closer look. It was a small package containing three small items: A mini rolling pin, a mini bread pan, and a mini spring-form pan. :) Well, must have seen the pure delight in my eyes because he took one look at me and knew we were getting it. :)

The one I was most excited about was the spring-form pan. :) So I dedicated my next afternoon to making mini cheesecakes. :) I had to do them one at a time because I only have the one pan. It took longer than I expected because I didn't think about the fact that I had to let each cake cool in the oven before removing it from the pan... So this is how my day went:

I set my toaster oven to 350 degrees, I press about 3/4 cups worth of crumbs into my pan, I pour in about a cup of filling, and then I stick the cake in the oven. Once my cake is done, (about a half an hour later) I turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar and wait about another half hour for it to cool. Then I take it out and do the whole process again. :)

In the end a total of seven mini cheesecakes were made. :) We had chocolate syrup and strawberry filling as toppings. :) They are so good! And SOOOOO Cute!!! :) I love cheesecake!

Look how cute it looks sitting in my toaster oven! :) Aw!

This is what it looks like without toppings sitting next to an orange. :)

Here it is with the strawberry filling on top. This is how small it is! Look! It fits in the palm of my hand! :)

...I love small things. :)

And this is with both chocolate syrup and strawberry filling.... SO GOOD!!!! :)

So there you have them! My mini cheesecakes that I am so proud of! haha :) Now all I have to do is figure out how much of each ingredient I need to make just one mini cheesecake... :) ...Maybe I'll just ask Garrett. He's a genius! :) He'll know the answer! :) 

Jackson, Mississippi

So we are now in Jackson and the summer is winding up fast! I feel like this summer has flown by! I can't believe that we are at the end!

Right now we are staying at a hotel called "Inntown Suites" and it is pretty nice. we have a mini kitchen! Yay! So exciting! :) so I will definitely be taking advantage of that while we are here. Last night, after Garrett got home, we went shopping. (Garrett's favorite thing to do...) We have a full sized fridge here which is so nice because we can plan further ahead for meals. :) But we didn't get home from the store until after midnight last night but nobody had really eaten all day and we were all hungry. So I thought that I could just whip up some rice-a-roni for everyone as a quick meal.

 well... it was 1 in the morning when we finally ate our dinner. I didn't realize it would take that long. Those poor guys! Tonight, I am making Fire Roasted Tomato Soup though. And I'm going to get the sandwiches all ready to grill ahead of time so that they can eat almost as soon as they get home. :)

When I have my camera memory card back, i'm going to post a few awesome pictures from our last area. :) I hope you enjoy them! One is of a castle and the other is of a trailer.. :)

These pics are from my phone and are both from our last area in Hattiesburg:

SHOPHIA NAILS SPA

This is a picture of the nail salon that was in our parking lot. I almost went a few times just out of curiosity... but I was never brave enough. There was jsut something strange about it... :) But it was kind of funny to see a nail salon in the hotel parking lot. :)

LIGHTIN' IT UP ON THE PICK-UP!

I was on my way to the laundry room when I saw this and I just had to take a picture. :) Awesome, isn't it?

Mississippi!

Okay, so right now I am sitting in a library typing this up because we don't have internet at the place we're staying right now in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. :)But I can't excuse myself entirely for not updating for so long because the Budget Inn, where we stayed last week while we were in Monroe, Louisiana, had perfectly good internet and I didn't get on even once to update. :)


It's been really fun going to all of these areas and meeting so many wonderful people. The budget in had the biggest, most comfortable bed EVER! I loved it! And now we're at the Regency Inn and it's nice also. Especially for the great price. :)


Neither of these places have stoves though so once again I'm using my crockpot. :) It's fun though. I made Chili soup the other night and it was good. I'll have to post the recipe for you. SO EASY!


Great news! Garrett is OFFICIALLY accepted to Florida Coastal Law School! We are so happy and excited! We feel so blessed and are looking foreward to the next three years in Florida. :)


We will be in Jacksonville wich is just about two hours north of Orlando where Craig, Sharelle, and the boys live. :) It will be so fun to be able to visit them and be so close! :) We LOVE that cute family!


My little sister Hayley left the MTC on Wednesday and is now with her trainer in the Mission field of Leeds England. If you want to read more about it and see pictures, my mom is keeping up a blog for her. :) (sisterhayleyb.blogspot.com)


Weyul, that's all I have to say for now. I know it's brief but at least you're caught up. :)


Ps-


You ahould watch this video! It is AMAZING and a true story! I LOVE it! Click HERE to watch it!

Shreveport

Okay, so once again I have waited far too long to update this blog! :) I have been out visiting my family back in Utah. My little sister Hayley just left a last Wednesday for the Preston MTC in England! :) I am so excited for her! She will be a fantastic missionary! I took pictures while I was there to post on this blog... but then I went and left my memory card in Utah. Grr! So I'll get it back at the end of the summer but that means that I probably won't be able to post as many pictures for the rest of the summer. Unless I buy a new memory card which I just might do.

Garrett served his mission in Alabama and we will be heading that way at some point to meet everyone and I WANT  PICTURES! :)

But for now I will just copy pictures of a few things from Google or take pictures with my phone. :)

Visiting with my family was so much fun! It was great to be able to spend that time with Hay before she left! I've never seen someone more ready to serve a mission! She really is amazing!

This is the day she left. Our family tradition is that we eat at the village Inn In Bountiful the morning of the send off to the MTC. :)

And here we are at the Airport. :) I stole these pics from Hayleys Mission blog. :) Thanks Mom! :) 

I also got to meet my new nephew! SO CUTE! His name is McKay. My Sister in law Sara, (who from here on out I will just call my sister and leave the "in law" part out) had him on Sunday, June 24th. :) He is so tiny and adorable! And Aaliyah is such a good big sister! It was so fun to be able to see everyone!

For the Independence Day holiday I was back here in Louisiana. We went to the store and the only fireworks that we could find were the ones that aren't really FIREworks... :) We could only find snaps and confetti. :) So we bought them and divided them between the 4 of us. Then we all went outside and started shooting the confetti at each other and tossing the snaps at one another's feet. :) Haha it was so much fun!

We then went inside and played spades with some brand new 3D Star Wars cards. :) It was pretty fun. :) Even though I am really bad at that game. :)

So now you are caught up. :) When I left for Utah we were in Alexandria. Now we are in Shreveport. I will post pictures from both hotels. :)

Garrett took this picture for me from my phone. :) This is the place we stayed at in Alexandria called the Alexandria Inn. It was a good place to stay. There was no Kitchen but we did have a fridge and microwave.

This is the place where we are staying now. It's just like the first place we stayed. It's the same hotel line. (Crossland)

This one DOES have a mini kitchen! Yay! I made Miso soup last night. Mmm!  Maybe I'll make rice tonight. :) I have to take advantage of having a stove! :)

On to Alexandria :)

Wow! This summer is FLYING by!!! :) I can't believe it! We are now in Alexandria and it is getting pretty warm. :) I like it though. I love the south! :) The hotel we are at now doesn't have a kitchen either. So once again I am using my crock pot. :) I made sweet and sour chicken last night and then cleaned it out and had oatmeal ready this morning, :) I am loving this crock pot!! :) I took pictures of our last two places that we have stayed. The first one in Baton Rouge was called The Crosslands and it was a nice place to stay. It had a nice mini kitchen with a fridge, a microwave, a stove, and cupboard space. They provide dishes too but we just used our own. :) Our landlady Cappy was AWESOME!!! we love her! We took a picture with her too. ...it's not a great picture of me... just ignore that. :) I basically rolled out of bed, finished loading the car, and we hit the road so I look... so pretty... haha. But isn't Garrett adorable?! :)

The next place we stayed was called The Airport Inn in Kenner. It was good. We had a lot of space in our room which was nice and we had a fridge and a microwave. It wasn't necessarily the cleanest place... haha Garrett and I just always wore our shoes around the room unless we were on the bed so it worked out just fine. :)

So here is our room. There was plenty of space. :) And that door over by the bed leads into the main office so I felt pretty safe. :)

I wish I would have gotten a picture of our room at the Crosslands but I didn't think about it until  we had already left.

This is the pool.... :) Well, it's where the pool used to be. :) Right now it's filled with dirt but I hear that they are going to get it back up and going. 

We were there for a week and then we moved here to Alexandria. :) The place we are staying now has a real pool.! :) I'll have to take some pictures of it and post them too. But now I have to go and do the Laundry so I'll catch up with y'all later! ;)

Cajun Pride Swamp Tours

Wow! Sorry I've been away for so long! :) Life has been great down here in the bayou's. :) I'm lovin' it! I've been going out to sell with Garrett a bit lately and it has been so much fun. He is so cute to watch as he's giving a demo. :) He's sweet too because he tells me I'm his lucky charm. :) He even has me do a little bit of the talking. :) Im sure he does it so much better than I do but it's still fun to talk to these people and to be talking to them about such a great product is even better!

I'm also learning a lot about cooking and it gets easier for me every day! :) I'm going to add a label on here for any recipies I find. Right now my best friend is my crock pot! :) Whoever invented that little guy is awesome! :)

I also got to go and visit my cute nephews in Florida for a few days. I'll post some pics of them so you can see how ADORABLE they all are! I loved spending time with them! They are a really neat family and it was good to be able to relax with them and spend time getting to know them better. :)

Mason dumped a bunch of sand on Russel's head... :) 

Apparently Russell didn't mind too much. :)

The boys were making a sandcastle. Gavin was running to get some more wet sand. Aren't they all so adorable?!

That's Mason and Russell putting more sand in the bucket. Russell was using the shovel earlier but every time he lifted the shovel all of the sand fell off before he could get it to the bucket. I think he finally gave up on it and decided just to use his hands. :) So cute!

Gavin bringing more water to the castle and Russell having the time of his life! :)

While we've been down here we've gotten to do some fun things too. Yesterday we all went on a swamp tour and looked at the alligators! :) It was sooo cool! I took some pictures with my cell phone (both of our camera's just happened to be dead... frustrating!) :) But the phones did a pretty good job capturing a few things close up. :)

These Gators are some of the smaller, younger ones. We saw some that were 12 feet long!

He was feeding them raw chicken. ...And marshmallows. haha

My husband is so CUTE!

 

This alligator is three years old! I guess they grow really slowly but they live for about 150 years!

 We also saw a bunch of raccoons and birds and snakes and lizards! :) And the guy that gave us our tour was awesome and told us a ton of interesting facts about the place. He actually grew up on a swamp and still lives there now.

We also saw a one year old gator but he didn't pass that one around. (Darn it!) :) I would have loved to have held it! :)

I think he said that you can find them on youtube if you look up cajun swamp tours. :) I think you get to see the raccoons and everything. :)

Tonight we are going out to dinner as a team so I'd better get ready! :)

Till next time!

"When it rains, it pours."

I have a feeling that saying came from the south. :)

This morning started with a bang! :) We opened the door to our room, (which opens to the outside) and noted that the sky was partly cloudy. Sure enough, the bang we heard meant a storm was on it's way. I actually don't mind the rain. In fact, I kind of like it.

I may not like it as much as my little sister Hayley, who immediately upon seeing that it's raining will throw on a light rain jacket and running shoes and head for the nearest biking/running trail. :)

But I do like it and I do enjoy playing in it as if I were still a little girl. :) I was so excited for the rain to come and was hoping that it wouldn't pass us by. :) Garrett had always told me that it doesn't usually rain in the south without pouring. But I guess I just had to see it for myself to know that it was true. :)

After my handsome and hard working hubby left this morning, I busied myself by tidying up the room, (which consisted of little more than cleaning a few dishes and making the beds) and then made myself a bagel with cream cheese and honey... Mmmm! After that I went down to the car to pick out a book to read since there were no errands to run. It still hadn't begun to rain, but I could sense that the air was more humid than it has been since coming here. :) This made me very happy because I really wanted to see and feel the southern rain. :) I picked "The Hiding Place" from the box and replaced "The QBQ" which I read yesterday. It was a good book, and a quick read. :)

Anyway, I grabbed my book and came back inside. After rearranging a few more things I settled down and began to read. I didn't get too far into the book before I heard a loud boom! And then I heard the down-pouring of rain. :) I quickly put on my shoes and went outside. Wow! It looks so cool! I went back inside and grabbed my camera and started taking pictures to try and capture it as best I could for you. I think it looks so pretty falling against the backdrop of those green trees! I noticed that I wasn't the only one who had stepped out to observe. Many of the other guests had also emerged and were watching the sheets of water fall onto the roof and into the pool of the hotel.

I walked under an opening of the roof and felt that the rain was surprisingly cool. The air was dense and warm with humidity so I guess I just assumed the rain would be warm as well. But it felt soft, cool, and refreshing, :) I tried to snap some good pictures. None of them really capture it, but at least you'll be able to see sort of what it looks like. :)

I tried not to get any of the other guests in my photo so that they wouldn't feel awkward ... but now I wish I would have. It's kind of fun that we were all out there enjoying the rain. :)

This looked so cool! I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it.

Isn't it so pretty?!

After I decided I had taken enough pictures, I came back inside and started reading again. Another loud BOOM came crashing in and it was so loud that I actually jumped! haha I laughed at myself, snuggled deeper into my blankets, and finished the chapter.

Loosiana :)

Okay, I'm all caught up now. :) I can finally tell you what's going on at the present. :)

Garrett works as a Manager for a company called "Living Scriptures." They make those animated Bible and Book of Mormon movies that you see sometimes at the mall. (At least that's where I remember seeing them.)  They are awesome! They also do documentaries on DVD of each of the Prophets and some dramatized cd's of the history of America and Some of the Scriptures. They're even the ones that made the movie "The Swan Princess." :) I love that one! :) Anyway, they make those and lots of other great things. Each summer Garrett manages a team to go out and sell all of these awesome products. :) Garrett served his mission in Alabama. He LOVES the south. So it's no surprise that he chooses to sell in a southern state each year.

This year he chose Louisiana. :) So on Thursday morning, we packed up the cars and later that afternoon we hit the road. It took us until Saturday night to finally get here, but it was really fun. :) I got to drive through Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. :) Texas seemed to go on forever!!! But we finally pulled through and reached the sign welcoming us into Louisiana. Oh my goodness is it BEAUTIFUL!!!! It sooo green and there are soo many trees! And they are so full and dark! And there are little streams and lakes and ponds and it all looks amazing! :) I love it! :) I also saw a dead armadillo on the side of the road. :) It was my first time seeing an armadillo. Too bad it was a dead one.. but I was still excited! :)

The people here are sweet too. We went to our first day of church on Sunday and everyone in the ward was so sweet and welcoming. :) I LOVE the accents! :) I always love them when people use them in movies, but in real life it's even BETTER! :) Maybe I'll pick up a thing or two while I'm here. :)

These are pictures of our church building and the Baton Rouge Temple which is right next to the church. :) What a surprise when we pulled into the church parking lot on Sunday and saw a Temple there! :)

Hopefully soon, Garrett is going to take me to Alabama to meet all of the people there from his mission that he loves and talks about so much. :) I can't wait to meet them all! :)

We're staying at an extended stay hotel. Right now we're in a room that doesn't have an oven or a stove. They brought in a fridge and microwave for us yesterday which has been great. I was able to go shopping yesterday for the first time in Louisiana. :) I'm not quite used to the roads yet, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it as I get more familiar with where things are. :)

...I thought it was funny... :)

Honeymoon

**I just realized that when you click on the slideshow to make it play, it opens a new window and redirects you to picasa, where all of my photos are kept.. Sorry! I don't know how to fix it. The slide show starts playing once you click on it. So just X out of the Picasa window when it pops up and you can watch the slideshow. :)**


For our Honeymoon we went to Disneyland and a week long cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was sooo much fun! :) While we were on our cruise we went on this awesome excursion called the "Extreme Canopy Adventure." :) It was so awesome! We did some super long and high zip-lines, went repelling down waterfalls, rode mules up the mountainside, and hiked through the Mexican jungle. :) We also got to ride in this HUGE yellow jeep around the streets of mexico on the way to the adventure. It was fun! :) This is a slideshow of some of the pictures they took of us during our adventure. :)

Happily Ever After...

Okay! So here we are, almost 8 weeks in! And we are LOVING it! :) I haven't posted since Valentines day so it looks like I have a lot to cover. I'll try and give a quick overview. :)

Bridals were fun. It was fun to put on my dress and see Garrett in his tux for the first time. :) Garrett looked so Handsome!!! And I LOVED the look he gave me when he saw me coming down the stairs in my dress. :) We did our bridals at temple square around the Temple grounds and around the Lion House Restaurant. :) They turned out great! It was cold and windy, (as it usually was when we took pictures) but, they turned out great. :)

We had our reception on March 2nd, five days before our wedding day. People thought it was a little strange to do the reception BEFORE the wedding, but it turned out great and made for a much less stressful wedding day. :) We had a group called Legacy Weddings come in and decorate our stake center for us. They did a great job! It looked beautiful!

We got there early and started taking pictures. Man! I had no idea taking pictures took so long! :) People started lining up at the door before 6 and we barely finished taking the pictures in time. :) The reception actually flew by for me. The line seemed to go on forever! But it was fun seeing so many friends and meeting so many new people and hearing what great things they had to say about Garrett. :) I really am so lucky to have him! :) While we shook hands with people Garrett's brother Taylor played some beautiful music on the piano. (SO talented)

After the line ended we cut the cake (which for some reason I felt self conscious doing with so many people watching...) and we KINDLY fed it to one another. :) Our wedding cake was red velvet. Mmmm. :)  It looked so pretty! Our cake was made by Granite Bakery who also did our delicious cakes that we served as refreshments.

The flowers were brilliantly done by my good friend Alaide Parker who just opened up a business in floral design. :)

After the cake was cut we did the dancing. :) We danced with the parents to the song "I've Got a Thing For You" from the movie "Charly" and then it was time for the Bride and Groom to dance. :)

I have always loved the story of Cinderella. When I was little I think it was just because of the cute little mice that talk and make dresses and rescue Cinderella from the tower. But It has come to mean so much more to me as I've gotten older. Cinderella is a normal girl living with some pretty rough trials. But instead of turning bitter and angry, she remains positive and kind. She pushes on even through the hardest days and doesn't give up. In the end, she is rewarded with a Prince and the realization of a seemingly impossible dream. :) Which is what can happen to each of us if we will push on with a positive attitude through our trials, and have faith in the Lord. If we will trust in Him and endure whatever hardships may come our way, He, in the end, will reward us with the riches of His kingdom. :)

Anyway, my Prince just so happens to be a very skilled dancer. :) He taught me how to do the Viennese Waltz on our second date. :) And so for our Bride and Grooms dance we Viennese Waltzed our way around the floor as the Cinderella Waltz was playing through the sound system. :) It was AWESOME! :)

After that, we had a few line dances and then went home. :) ...If I remember right, my Parents took us all to Denny's that night for dinner. :) That was fun.

5 days later, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity! :) It was beautiful! After the sealing we went out to take pictures. Once again... it was COLD! :) And windy. haha But it was fun. :) We took some on the temple steps and then inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. After that everyone left for the luncheon and we stayed to take just a few more pictures. :)

At the luncheon we had Chinese food and cheesecake. Garrett's mom decorated for the luncheon and it looked beautiful! It had a Chinese theme because they have a Chinese ancestry. Garrett is actually 1/4 Chinese. His Great-Grandparents (if I remember right) came over from China and owned a Chinese restaurant. Maybe it was Great-Great...  :) I'll have to ask him.

After the Luncheon we took off for our Honeymoon! Yay!  It was so fun getting in the car, driving off, and letting it soak in that we really were married! :) What a great feeling!