3 Years Ago Today...

We were married for Time and All Eternity.

This was the best decision I ever made!

I love you Stephen!

Motivation? ... or the lack there of

So...I always wonder how to motivate myself to exercise during the winter months. I don't know if anybody else has this same problem. The summer months make it so easy. I go running 3-4 times a week plus all the other summer outdoor activities, hiking, water skiing, ultimate frisbee, or taking walks with Stephen after dinner. But this time of year it's just so stinking cold that I lose every ounce of motivation. I'm always so drained after a long day of teaching, getting home around 5pm making dinner and dishes....I'm about ready for bed after all that. We do have a small exercise room at our complex that I need to take more advantage of. But it's hard to get myself even outside with these freezing temperatures. Well, Stephen found a way to help with this dilemma...it was the perfect Christmas gift. Thanks sweetheart!
I absolutely LOVE it! It really gives me a good workout. I'm using muscles I haven't used in a very long time. After a few weeks of using it I feel great! Working out during the cold months....bring it on...well in the comfort of my own home! Yea! Now for the rest of my New Year's Resolutions.....I'm still working on those.

2010

Happy New Year!!! I can't believe it's January and we're heading into a new year. Well, actually a new decade...time is going way to fast these days. I look back 10 years ago and what were we doing back then....?

Emily was...

• A sophomore at Utah State
• Enjoying the college life with roommates and friends
• Working towards applying to the special ed program and hoping to get in
• Left the teen age years and feeling more mature being a whopping 20 years old.

Stephen was...

• only 6 months into the mission field serving in Argentina
• still trying to figure out how to speak the Spanish language fluently
• hard at work :)

The world was...

• scared to death by the whole Y2K thing and had everyone in a panic, which really amounted to nothing.
• had just elected George W. Bush to office and didn't realized what this man would have to deal with during his term in office with terrorist attacks and our country going to war.
• reality shows on T.V. were just starting to come about
• the internet was something most of us still dialed-up to connect and was mainly used to check email

Crazy what we're you doing 10 years ago?

Our Christmas

It's crazy to think that Christmas has come and gone. With so much anticipation leading up to it...it's sad to see this time of year come to an end. We were definitely blessed to have had a wonderful holiday this year.
We spent Christmas this year with my family. It was nice not to have to travel very far for the holiday. We headed up on Christmas Eve where there were lots of Christmas festivities waiting! Matt and his family visiting from Texas and we were able to spend some time with them. We did our usual family traditions, baking Christmas goodies, eating a yummy dinner, singing Christmas songs as we set up the nativity, reading from the Christmas Story and opening up our Christmas P.J.'s.
Christmas morning was so fun with my brother Matt's little kids. I love seeing how excited they get. Cute Kayla was set on leaving Santa chocolate chip M&M cookies(which we specially made) and 9 carrots. It was darling to see her expression when she woke up and found them all gone and a special note left for her. We all had fun pulling out our presents and trying them out.
The next day, my brother Ryan and his family flew in from New Jersey and we were able to have our annual family Christmas Party. We are getting to be quite the group when we all get together. There are now 18 grandkids and then all the adults, it fills up my parents house pretty fast. We always have a great time together laughing and catching up.Grandpa reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning...I love this contagious smile!
Opening our stockings...and yes I am a big David Archuleta fan!

In other news... Stephen and I have both been enjoying a little break from school. It's been such a relaxing week for both of us and has been so nice to have time together at home. He's starting to get geared up with the next semester of the MBA program. Currently, he's signed up for 19 1/2 credits. (Just too many good classes to choose from, I guess) I'm worried that he'll burn himself out pretty fast. Let's cross our fingers that he'll drop a class or two.
We've been filling up our time with hanging out with friends, attending our fair share of Christmas Parties and get-to-gethers, reading books, deep cleaning the house and laughing along with Stephen as we watch old episodes of 'The Office'. Why does this relaxing break have to come to an end?

Thanksgiving in Illinois

We decided to be adventurous this year and take a road trip to Illinois. Most people would call this crazy, but we were excited for the trip! Stephen's sister lives there and it was about 8 hours shorter than to drive all the way to Michigan. So everyone met up in Illinois. Stephen has two siblings out here, going to BYU. So with four drivers, it made it a lot more do-able. On the way out, we left at 2 am and drove all through the day. We didn't stop for anything but gas and food and we got there about midnight that evening. We had a great time and kept busy in the car watching movies, playing games, sleeping, reading and chatting about anything and everything. Once we were there and caught up on our sleep, we had a fabulous time. It was so fun to spend time with the Holden's. I am so grateful to have good in-laws. We don't get to see them too often, but we always spend so much time laughing together. And not to mention the good Thanksgiving food and yummy pies! We brought our camera, but played so hard we didn't even take a single picture...oh well. We headed back Saturday afternoon for the long haul. I would have to say the the 22 hour drive to Illinois wasn't so bad. But four days later, the 22 hour drive back to Utah was long and hard.

In the spirit of the holiday, here's the top 10 things I'm Thankful for this year...in no particular order!

1.My sweet & patient husband, Stephen
2.Temples and that I know families are forever
3.Moments when I have the clarity of thought to acknowledge that I can’t control what happens – only how I react
4.The sunshine!
5.Good health...knock on wood
6.My job
7.The Freedoms we have and all the many comforts I live with
8.Trials...in all shapes and sizes
9.My parents and their example to me
10.My kids at school who make me smile and tear my hair out all at the same time.

Kicking off the Christmas Season

I'm usually one of those people who will NOT listen to Christmas music, get out my Christmas Tree or do anything of the sort BEFORE the Thanksgiving holiday. I just think that Thanksgiving gets lost in all the craze of Christmas and what a better way to bring in the Christmas holiday than to remember what we are Thankful for. Well, this year I have to admit I did get a little excited. The weekend before Thanksgiving my mom had bought a few tickets to the Nutcracker. She enjoys taking all of her grandkids to the ballet (brave... I know!) So this year, I got to tag along with all my nieces and nephews. It was so fun to get all dressed up and go to a real ballet. It had been a very long time since I'd been to the Nutcracker. I love the music and the story and epecially seeing how excited all my nieces and nephews were. Cute Emma (who is 4 and has been taking ballet the past few months) kept shouting out "look there is a real ballerina! It was a great way to bring in the Christmas spirit and got me excited for this wonderful time of year! I will admit after seeing the Nutcracker, I couldn't help but braking out my Christmas music!

Halloween Fun

I know it's been a week or so, but I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We sure did! We did all the traditional holiday festivities....and enjoyed every minute of it! With Halloween being on Saturday, we had more of a busy Halloween weekend. Friday was the big day at school. Most teachers dread this crazy day of the year, but as hard as it always is, it's so fun to see the excited little kiddos all dressed up in their costumes. It was a busy day and I came home and just crashed on the couch for almost an hour before we got back into our costumes and met up with my family that night. We always end up doing a family Halloween party because we have a few birthdays around this time of year and celebrate those. It's fun for all the little cousins to see each other dress up. My mom is the one who probably gets into it the most....which is really funny because she never did anything like this for us when we were little. It must be the grandkids! :) We had a delicious dinner and then the kids played some fun games including the traditional bobbing for apples.


The cute kids all dressed up!


My mom as a "deviled egg"


Bobbing for some apples!

On Halloween, we decided at the last minute to go hang out with my sister Camille and her kids for the evening. We headed up to Kaysville for the night and Stephen even went around trick or treating with the little kiddos. Boy were they hyper. They came back with their bags full of candy in one hand and something unwrapped and half eaten in the other. Camille and I stayed and handed out candy to the little ghouls who came by. Living in a young neighborhood they had lots of visitors! After the kids went to bed we stayed up just talking. We sure love hanging out with our family. Thanks guys!

Sick and Tired

Today, as I sit here, I'm home in my bed sick. Yuk! I've been sick for a month now and it's just not getting any better. So I finally broke down and went to the doctor who loaded me up with a bunch of drugs and I'm feeling better already. It's nice to have a day off of work and relax. So since I have some time on my hands I thought I'd catch up on some blogging that I've been meaning to do for a while now. We've been really busy around our house...but busy is good right?

My little brother was in town the other weekend from Texas. It was so good to see him, his wife and his darling little kids. We had fun catching up and laughing lots. We spent some time at the cabin to celebrate his birthday and listen to conference. I can't believe how big his kids are getting and how much I miss him being around!


I wish this picture turned out better! Here's Matt with his kids who love and adore him.


Stephen's catching a quick hug from little Preston!

One last chance

So it's taken me a while to get around to blogging about this, but I thought I'd still include it. Over Labor Day weekend, Stephen was able to have one last chance to go flying. His pilot's license expires in a couple of months and to keep current he has to spend so many hours flying a plane. Well, with going back to school and having our monthly income cut in half we no longer have the budget to support this expensive hobby. Flying is such a passion of his and he is like a little kid when he get behind the plane. It's so fun to see him so excited! This time he took his brother James and I to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. Well, you might be asking yourself what's in Fort Bridger? Answer: nothing....it was just a place to go, land and walk around for a bit before heading back home. However, we did meet a nice cowboy looking man at the airport. He was the only sign of life for miles around. :) It was a beautiful flight flying over the Uninta mountains and seeing all the glacier lakes. It was quite the view. Of course we took tons of pictures, but here's just a few of the best ones!

A great view of the lakes from the air!


Brothers flying up in front.


Our stop at Fort Bridger.

Salsa Salsa Salsa

Every September the past 3 years my mom and sister Allison have taken the goods from our garden's and combined them together and had a Salsa making day! We get into it good and are chopping and dicing all sorts of things. It's kind of funny because we just make it to taste and use the recipe as just a basic guideline. It turns out differently each year, but I would have to agree that it gets better and better each time. I love hanging out with my mom and sister and love learning how to make salsa. I think I could do it on my own, but it's so much more fun with them around to laugh with. This year we had lots of tomatoes and peppers. I think we set a record and did 4 different batches which made over 70 jars of salsa. That's a lot of salsa to eat!



Yep..It's pretty much a staple food at our house!

Loving the Great Outdoors this Summer

Yes I know, most would say that we're well into fall. With the cooler temperatures and leaves changing colors all around us. But Stephen and I have been trying to squeeze the last of summer fun in before it gets too cold! We've really been able to enjoy the outdoors this summer! Once again we made it a goal to go hiking each week and find some new places. And once again we did pretty good the first month. We went almost every weekend, considering the cold and stormy June we had. We were on vacation most of July, we've been able to go a few times in August and even a bit this month. We've made some great memories with our fun adventures. We were only caught in one hail/lightning storm, saw many beautiful waterfalls, ran into a moose, had a picnic in the snow, saw amazing sunsets, found a favorite camping spot miles from anyone around, heard a coyote in our camp(so this may not be such a favorite spot anymore), fell into a river, and made sure to do lots and lots of bird watching. Just to name a few...

What a great summer! Both Stephen and I love being outside and enjoying the beautiful mountains around us. We're sad to see the summer months go.

Green Thumb

Well, we sure learned lots this summer... being our first with our own back yard and garden. I would have to say it was so fun...once all the hard work of putting in the yard was done. We absolutely love having a little place of our own. Here's a few things we'll keep in mind with many future years ahead of us.

1. Having a lawn mower like this really can have it's benefits...although now that I think of it, we've been so busy since school started, I don't think our lawn has been mowed. mmmmm...we'd better get on that one.

2. A little fertilizer can go a long way! This is what it did to one half of our garden....
This is what it did to the other! oops! I was sad about the tomatoes, but I guess you live and learn!

3. Harvest time is wonderful. We've enjoyed cucumbers, squash, lettuce, beans, and peppers.:)
4. Earwigs and slugs are very hard to get rid of.
5. We've loved grilling and eating on the back patio with friends enjoying the view of the mountains!

A Whirlwind...

I can't believe that it's the last day of August! We've had quite the month! We returned back from Michigan and found out about 5 days later that Stephen's Grandpa passed away. So we hopped back onto the airplane and headed back out to Michigan. We had a quick trip to visit with family and say our goodbyes. It was good to be there and we were so grateful we were able to see him just a week earlier, when we were out there originally. I'm sad I never knew him when he was in his prime, but I've loved having a grandpa again even if it was for just a few years through marriage. He was such a happy man, even when things were hard and his was very sick. He always greeted you with a big smile and a positive attitude. Something I want to do more of! :)

In the midst of traveling to a funeral. I tried to unpack my classroom and get ready for the little kiddos to start school. I would have to say, I would much rather move my house than an entire classroom. It was such hard work and took tons of time. My poor husband didn't have a wife for about a week straight. Sorry sweetheart! I've been back to the grind and busy as ever, since the kids started school a week or so ago. I have a great little class this year. There's only 10 of them, but boy they are such a handful. I am so grateful I have two full-time aides in my classroom this year. I don't know if I could do it without them. They are truly lifesavers. I'm sure there will be many more funny stories to come with this group. One of my little boys struggles a lot with language and keeps calling me "Mr. Holden" Hey...at least he has the last part right. We'll work on the rest!

Also, Stephen is back doing the school thing too. Only he's at BYU working on his MBA.He finished his last day with his "real job" this month and traded in a brief case for a backpack full of books. In a small way, it made me really miss the college life of classes and being on campus. But only in a small way. I guess I now have to become some-what of a cougar fan with him getting his MBA there. However, I'll always be an Aggie at heart.

We also have his little brother James living with us for a semester. It's been fun to have him around too. He's a great kid and just got back from his mission this summer. So we're easing him back in to "real life" and are very excited to have him around.

What a crazy end to such a relaxing summer! It was a good one though and we're enjoying life and all that it brings!

Memories Made in Michigan

I'm feeling very relaxed as I soak in my last week of summer vacation! We were able to spend a few weeks with Stephen's family out in Michigan. We had a great time with the WHOLE family, now that his little brother James is back from his mission. We played hard and were able to travel around the great state of Michigan. I really got to see everything. I'll try not to make this too long, but we packed everyday with something fun!

We spent a day up in beautiful Riffle River. (a favorite family place their grandparents always took them camping) We played on swinging bridges, climbed amazing trees and waded in the river.

We also drove down to the big city and did a session in the Detroit Temple. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way and truly gave me a taste of not living 5 minutes from the temple. And yet they feel they are so close and are grateful they don't have to make the 8 hour trip to Chicago or Toronto. I love the temple and it was neat to do a session with the Holden's.


The next day, Stephen's uncle and cousin's came up from Ohio and we all drove up north to Mackinaw City which is right by the U.P. (aka...Upper Peninsula). Where we spent some time and then took a ferry over to Mackinac Island. It was beautiful with all the sailboats and lighthouses on Lake Huron. Mackinac Island has banned motorized vehicles for more than a century and remains a living Victorian community. So we rented some tandem bikes and rode around the island. It's also famous for being the place where the old classic movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. And of course we had to get some of their famous fudge!

Then off onto another road trip where we drove down to the Au Sable River. We rented canoes and kayaks and went 10 miles down the river. It was so green, I realized how much of a desert Utah really is. We had a great time catching frogs and saw lots of mink and turtles in their natural habitat. A first for me!

Stephen's brother Jeremy is starting the Police Academy next month and just got his gun. We decided to go shooting and brake it in. They also had a small 22 rifle for those who were too chicken to use the 40 caliber hand gun.(Like me!)

We also went paint balling to some field in the middle of all these Amish Farms. It was really a random place, but we had a fun time. It brought out the kid in all of us, but I had forgotten how much those little balls hurt when you get hit. Both Stephen and I were sore and had many bruises all over our body, one of which on my
leg was blacker than black and bigger than my hand. It was crazy and a good thing that was towards the end of the vacation.

It's always hard to leave and to live so far away. We had such a great time laughing and hanging out with each other.

Five Foot Nine

Stephen always is giving me a hard time because I'm "taller" than him. But really it depends on the day and the shoes either of us are wearing. He's always saying he hopes our kids take after my side of the family, with the tall genes. Well, take a look at this! According to Harvard, I am at increased risk of cancer because I am tall. I'm not sure what I think about this...
I quote:

Being tall may raise your risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. Scientists aren’t sure why. One reason may be that tall people have more cells in their bodies, which increases the number of cells that could become cancerous. Another reason may be that tall people grow faster as children. Faster growth is linked to changes in the genetic structure (DNA) of the body’s cells, eventually causing them to become cancerous.

Being tall also increased my chance of being a good basketball or volleyball player, but that sure didn't happen. I guess there are some advantages to being short!

Happy 4th!!!

We did so many things in this weekend with family that we totally crashed on Sunday! It was sure worth it though. Stephen had work off on Friday, so we had an extra long weekend. It was great! Friday morning we set off early to meet up with my Sister Camille and her family at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I think everybody else had that same idea. It was incredibly busy, but what a beautiful temple it was. I loved seeing the expression of my nephews Austin and Nathan and explaining the different areas to them. Then the guys took off for an afternoon of golfing. That night the whole family headed over to my sister Melinda's house for an outdoor movie. They have a huge inflatable screen they set up with a popcorn machine and everything. I made it through the entire movie withOUT falling asleep...amazing...I know!
On Saturday morning we woke up early to head out for the Kaysville 5K. This is becoming an annual tradition! Last year my sister Camille and I did it. But, this year my little nephew Nathan set a goal to run it like his mom. By the end he had recruited Me, Stephen, his dad Mike and my mom to all run it. It was so much fun to do it with a big group! My mom even got first place for her age group! Way to go Mom!We headed to the little parade, to see my nieces ride in my dad's old Model A car! Then back to my parents for a yummy BBQ and even homemade rootbeer and ice cream! It doesn't get better then that. And of course it couldn't have been the fourth without lighting a firework or two. We sat on the front lawn while the big kids (aka the dad's) lit up quite the show. We also have a perfect view of the city's big fireworks too. It's makes for a very patriotic setting. We definitely played hard. I don't know how we could have done anything else this weekend! It sure was fun to spend time with family.

Praying for the Huish Family

So I thought I'd pass this on... Stephen's Co-worker, Zac and his wife have a daughter, Sadie, who is battling a brain stem tumor. She is a quite the little gal and is declining fast. We have been following her blog the past year. Sadie has been through so much the past year and a half and they are an amazing family. They have been so strong through all of this and are an example of faith. I can't imagine going through a difficult trial like this. It's just a reminder to me to be thankful for the gospel and eternal families. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

sadiehuish.blogspot.com

UV 5K

I've run only a handful of races the last 4 years. Most of them 5k's, which I find to be "fun". I tried a 10K once, when I was dating Stephen, (the things you do when you're dating someone). That to me wasn't so "fun". Maybe it was the not being able to walk afterwards or the losing of a toenail...I'm not quite sure. So for now, I've decided to just stick to a good 5K. However this year I decided to make it a goal to run a 5K in 30 minutes. I didn't know if I could actually do it. I enjoy running, but I am sure not fast by any means.

Back in March I signed up to run the Rex Lee Run at BYU, but was deathly sick the day of the race and my sweet husband made me stay home so I could recover and not drop over dead. That about drove me nuts to think I couldn't run and finish something I started! My determined little mind wasn't going to give up. So the last few months I've been trying to run longer and faster to build up my endurance. Well it all paid off on Saturday! It was such a great feeling! Especially with Stephen as my little cheering section. He caught a great picture of me crossing the finish line! (Notice the time on the clock!) Thanks sweetheart for supporting your crazy wife!

Our Little Back Yard!

It's been about a year since we started working on our backyard. It's gone from a bunch of dirt, rocks and 4-5 foot tall weeds... to this!




We also have a tiny garden in our little back yard. It's been fun to plant a few beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash. I just hope that I can keep all these plants alive this summer and harvest some veggies.

I must say that I've really enjoyed working on it this spring. I'm learning so much about taking care of a yard and really love spending time outside working in the dirt. It so relaxing to me! Now that's it summer I love getting up early and working outside in the cool mornings! I guess I didn't realize how much I loved it, until this week. It's rained everyday the past 10 days and I haven't been able to be out there. I think I've found a new little hobbie!

Celebrating Air Force Week!

Since I have a husband who loves airplanes and flying. We didn't miss out on this opportunity. Utah was one of three states selected by the Air Force to hold the annual celebration this year. There were so many things they did this week for it, so we decided to join the fun!
On Monday we were able to go to a Bee's Baseball game. I always love a good baseball game! We met up with my sister Camille, her husband and kids (who were so cute and excited as they were all decked out in their little league baseball attire). They had some special ceremonies before the game started with parachuters landing on the field. Then really a close and loud fly over. But unfortunately it started to rain in the fourth inning and we decided to head home so we wouldn't be soaked. The game kept on going and sadly we missed Mike catch a foul ball with his bare hands.

Then on Saturday they did an all-day air show at Hill Air Force Base. This definitely was my favorite! I loved seeing all the different airplanes, even some that Stephen has flown me in. Again, we met up with my sister and her family. Both her husband Mike and Stephen have a passion for airplanes. It was great to see them have so much fun. They both are truly kids at heart around all those big toys.
Watching those airplanes was awesome. It was amazing to watch the tricks and stunts that the different airplanes would do. It totally defied all the physics to flying. It was incredible!


At the end of the day they had the Thunderbirds perform. I was amazed at how close the F-16's would fly together, as they did flips and stunts in the air. They were sure loud and amazingly fast. They would shoot straight up almost 3 miles in the air, then flip around so fast. Then to top it all off they would fly upside-down, coming from opposite directions, heading right straight towards for each other. Just to pull out at the last minute nearly missing each other. They performed quite the show. We knew going up there it would be crowded, and sure enough it was. They said their was about 290,000 people in attendance just on Saturday. We had such a great time!