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.