Temple Square

Last Sunday, we went to Temple Square to look at the lights. Our favorite things to see, however, were the nativities they've started putting up. There are nativities from different countries, but they didn't say where each one was from. We got pictures with an Asian one (Tim's favorite), one from somewhere in South America, and my favorite, the Alaskan one! To anyone who hasn't been to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, check out this website: www.mormon.org.

Christmas Time!

Here are the much anticipated pictures of our apartment decorated for Christmas. We strung popcorn and cranberries for the tree and I made gingerbread ornaments- Tim likes eating the ones that break. We also got a new nativity, and Tim's dad got him a track that goes around the tree for his train. It was a lot of work to get everything done, but it's been fun!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Here is the view from our back porch today...

It's kind of fun right now, but I think after Christmas I'll want to be back in St. George...or even Georgia.

Nieces, Nephews, and Ducks, Oh My!

We spent Thanksgiving down in St. George with my family this year. I had a great time with my cute nieces, Kate and Makayla, and Will, my chunky nephew. I even got to take Makayla to feed the ducks at the golf course, but we left when they came out of the water towards us (even though Makayla wasn't as scared as me). We had a great weekend seeing movies, family, and eating lots of food!

Happy Birthday Tim!

Last Friday (Nov. 9th) was Tim's 25th birthday. I replaced his old Braves hat (which he lost), got him some drill bits, a razor knife, and a nice light jacket. His parents got him pretty much everything else in the pictures (the cool treats are thanks to Aubrey). Thanks everyone for your cards and gifts!

Fall Crafts

I am trying to be crafty (or was before I started working 60 hours a week). Here is my homemade fall wreath...

Poor Car

This is it. I think I'm going to either put my car up for sale or let someone pay us to tow it. My car has had trouble starting due to the distributer, and the clutch will be going soon (I have been told), so it is time to say goodbye. :(
It has been a great car for me since I was 16 and had to practice driving to cross country practice at 6 am to get used to a stick shift without much traffic. This little Honda Civic has traveled with me from the far reaches of Hurricane, Utah (the farthest I ever dared drive in high school), and up to Provo (never back to St. George again-I didn't know if it would make it) to get me through four years of college. I got the car from my neighbors, the Grays, who drove it for a company refilling quarter machines, and sold it to me for a deal. If anyone is interested in purchasing this beauty, let me know; I'll even throw the sheepskin seat covers in!

Happy Halloween Cupcakes

These are our "monster" cupcakes we made with the cups Tim's parents sent us in our Halloween package (thanks). Emily and Jeremy Webster helped us. Mine is on the far left followed by Emily's, Tim's and Webster's on the Right. They are pretty scary!

Scott's Wedding in DC

Tim's brother Scott got married to DeAnne Norton this past weekend in Washington DC. Tim and I flew out Friday morning and back Sunday afternoon. It was a short trip, but we had fun. DeAnne said she wanted to take most of the wedding pictures at the reception rather than at the temple. I thought it was a bad idea, because our reception pictures didn't turn out very good, but when we got there, it was beautiful! The reception was at an old mansion in a beautiful forest area. All the leaves were turning colors, and there were some pretty cool spots with doors and stone staircases outside. DeAnne made a good call on taking the pictures later (even though the temple was beautiful too).
We tried to check out the sites Sunday before our plane left, but there was a Marine Marathon, so many of the streets were closed. We ended up driving up Embassy Row and going to the National Cathedral. The buildings on Embassy Row all had different styles for different countries, and as you can see from the pictures, the National Cathedral was beautiful.

My New Life

I just thought I'd give an update on why I haven't been updating (besides the fact that my camera battery was out until today, so I didn't take any pictures). Since we've been back in Provo, Tim has been busy with school, work, and research. He has been working with an econ professor at BYU doing small research projects and applying for an ORCA (research) grant. Tim's job of organizing and grading english tests for missions (mostly in South America) got moved to the MTC, so he does the same things, he just has to wear a shirt and tie every day.
When we first got back, I stressed out because I couldn't find a job, so I got a job personal training at a Gold's Gym. I liked it, but it involves too much work and time that I wasn't getting paid for. One day while job searching, I found an opening with Medifit, a corporate health promotion company, similar to the one I did my internship with. There was an opening at the Discover Credit Card Site in Sandy, UT, so I applied and got it! I am definetaly an entry level employee working the night shift (2-10pm M-TH and 10am-6pm Fri.) for low wages, but I am just glad to be getting experience in the field of corporate health promotion. There, I run the fitness center at night, create fun bulletin boards on health and fitness topics, and help with incentive programs to get the employees to be healthy. I think I will also be teaching an onsite group exercise class in a few weeks! It gets kind of slow working at night, but I am really liking the job. I have also kept a few clients at Gold's in the morning, so I end up working about 50 hours a week. It's been pretty busy, but I'm finding joy in work (and an income!). If you'd like to know more about my company, go to medifit.com.

Our Apartment

Tim and I have had quite the summer, and it just got more exciting about a month ago when we finally returned back to Provo. Looking for housing in Provo is a nightmare-especially when you are not there to see the apartments. We were so excited when we found an apartment that we had actually looked at before we were married-and liked. The problem is that when we got into our apartment, it hadn't even been cleaned. The floors were stained and dirty, the toilet had a ring, and the tub had something green growing in it. Tim and I spent the first few days debating on whether or not we should look for another place to live.
One night Tim had gone to the store, so I got down on my hands and knees and started scrubbing the kitchen floor. Luckily, most of the yucky stains came off! When Tim saw it, he got excited and started scrubbing the tub. After many hours of labor and several trips to the store to buy cleaning supplies, our apartment was deemed livable! I even talked to the manager and he took money off our September rent (although, looking back, I probably should have asked for more off). Here are two pictures of our apartment. They don't show much, but I'll take more when we've hung pictures and everything.
We also got a duvet on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond, so we bought pillows and everything to go with it. It's really cute!

Fun with the Family

A few weeks ago, I went down to St. George to travel with my family to Phoenix for Makayla's second birthday and William's baby blessing. We had a great doggy party for Makayla with a fun cake (see middle picture). Her little friends enjoyed it too -as you can see in one of the pictures. Makayla was so happy to have us all there that she even played while we slept! (top left and bottom right picture). Little Will isn't so little anymore; he is a very cute chunk! I had so much fun and miss you guys!

Carlsbad Caverns

In Carlsbad, New Mexico, we stopped at the Caverns. There are some pretty crazy rock formations. The cave was huge; you can take an elevator down and there are little gift shops and modern bathrooms in the actual caves. Once you walk a little further, there are paved walkways for about a 2 mile loop. These caverns are so big that there are still undiscovered parts. To make our tour more interesting, Tim and I were naming all of the formations. The bottom left picture is of the three wiseman.

Cute Kids

Tim and I stopped in Phoenix to visit our new nephew William, and cute little Makayla. We also got to help Mindy because Thomas went out of town. We had so much fun playing with the kids. Tim was so cute holding little Will. We are really going miss them.

Schlitterbahn's

Since Tim's parents and Aubrey moved to San Antonio this summer, we stopped there for a few days on our tripback and went to Schlitterbahns. It is the biggest waterpark in the world. Schlitterbahn's is famous for a watercoaster ride, and an uphill slide. It was a lot of fun!

New Orleans!

It is finally time to head back to Utah after an exciting summer around the country. For our road trip back, we decided to make a few fun stops. Our first destination was New Orleans. It was an...interesting city. It's really come back from the hurricane, but it is still pretty dirty. There was a Satchmo Festival (N.O. is the birthplace of Jazz) while we were there at the Old Mint (picture #2). It made the stop worthwhile. Otherwise, it was just another city with a lot of souvenir shops. These are just pictures from the internet, but they do the job!

Washington DC

Tim and I went up to Washington DC/Maryland to visit Scott and Deanne (Scott's Fiance). I didn't take very many pictures, but there are a few of the Natural History Smithsonian Museum and Mount Vernon. There is also one of Tim and Scott doing what they spent a lot of spare time doing...playing nintendo. We had a lot of fun visiting and we're excited for the happy couple!

More Alaska

As you can probably tell, I just learned how to make the photo collages. I have now updated my Alaska blog so you can see more about the trip.
Our last day on the cruise was in Victoria, Canada. It was so pretty! There, we went on a ghost tour that was really scary! The big building in thepictures is the Parliment building. It looked like the Disneyland light parade. We also saw Darth Vader playing the fiddle, and the Gate of Harmonious Interest at the entrance to chinatown.
This is our Alaska fun block. It has the picture of us when we won trivia (the first time, we won 3 times) and some other cool pictures of Alaska.
One of the days on the cruise was a "scenic cruising" day with "the Naturalist." We went through a gorge with tonz of little icebergs in the water. It was pretty safe because the icebergs were mostly melted, but we saw two cute seals, and even some whales! The bottom right corner iceberg has a little seal on it if you look close.
In Ketchikan, Tim and Scott went fishing, so Aubrey and I walked around the city ourselves. Ketchikan is famous for totem poles, so we went to the totem pole museum/eagle preserve/salmon hatchery. The bottom left picture is of hundreds of salmon jumping up to get some food. One of the totem pole pictures shows a dinosaur looking thing. It is actually a bear, but I thought it meant dinosaurs used to live in Alaska. Hmm... The town on Ketchikan was pretty too!

Alaskan Adventure

Tim's grandma and grandpa took their whole family on a cruise to Alaska for Grandma Larsen's 80th birthday. The weather was a little cold, but we all had a great time!Here is our boat. There was a lot to do on it including shuffle board and heated pools, but I think everyone will agree that eating was what we spent most of our time doing.
These are my glacier and waterfall pictures. This is the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau. Tim, Scott, Aubrey, and I went on a hike around the mountain to get a better view of the mountain and we saw a ton of beautiful waterfalls! It was pretty cool.
These are pictures from our train ride in Skagway. We rode on the White Pass & Yukon Railway and even passed the border to get into Canada!

Atlanta, GA

We went to downtown Atlanta and saw the new "World of Coke" museum and the Olympic Fountain. The fountains were fun because -as you can see- there were so many little kids playing in it...including my husband!

This Dam Place

Tim, Aubrey, Allison (Aubrey's friend), and I went to see this really old dam in a river that emptys into the Chattahoochie. It is so huge and pretty, but it was a really humid hike.

Puppy Chow

I am a volunteer dog walker here in Atlanta. I like it, but sometimes it gets tough. I walked one dog who just decided she didn't want to walk anymore, so she just sat down in the middle of the road...for about 30 minutes! She was too big to carry very far, so I got her out of the street and took turns pushing her, pulling her, and carrying her home. It was really a bad experience. I've stopped walking big dogs.
This time I walked a very ugly, hyper medium-sized dog. She is good around humans, but hates big dogs. When I got back from the walk, I had to put her outside in a cage, but the other dogs out there made her mad. Baily (the dog) growled and barked at this other dog, so as I pulled her leash, she bit my leg! It swelled up so huge. This is my leg two days later. Maybe I should stick to the little puppies.

Nauvoo!

The whole Larsen family travelled to Nauvoo for cousin Sarah's wedding. It was a LOT of driving (30 hours in 4 days), but it was awesome! Sarah and Nick had a beautiful wedding and I enjoyed seeing all of the sites.

The beautiful new temple!
Looks like an engagement picutre, right? Well, I just thought the flowers were pretty
The Red Brick Store. A lot of significant things happened upstairs here. Unfortunately, the Reorganized church-or Community of Christ- ownes it now.
Me being a pioneer cook with a brick oven

See, I'm not so far from home

On our way to Charleston, we found a town called St. George, South Carolina. It was one of the most ghetto cities, but had a nice sign...and friendly people.

Georgia So Far...

On the train, The General, at Marietta Square
"The Big Chicken" is a landmark around here.