All in a day's musings...

Well goodness gracious! It's SNOWING outside! Kind of crazy that we have more snow NOW than we did on Christmas. It's a little depressing to most people.. considering we all thought spring had arrived last week and I went on a lovely walk in nothing more than a light jacket... But oh well.. We all know I am a huge fan of snow and will take it any time of year. There's just something.... refreshingly beautiful about it... the way it blankets everything in white. It can take an otherwise muddy and ugly world and turn it into a clean, white and beautiful wonderland! I also have to mention that I love how snow automatically gets Scott singing Christmas songs around the house, each refrain followed by a "WHY THE HECK AM I SINGING CHRISTMAS SONGS?! We've still got TEN MONTHS to go before that's legal again!!"

In other news... I've decided the world is quickly coming to an end. Yes, that's right. What with the riots in the East, the 6 - 7 point magnitude earthquakes, the tsunamis and hurricanes, Obama Care, and the volcano that erupted in my dream last week (still can't get those images out of my brain).. I feel pretty secure in saying that we are all in for it.

Seriously though... Am I the only person alive who wonders what the world will be like when my kids are teenagers?! The only person who wonders if it's even worth it to sign up for a 401K plan? I DO feel however that I would be well invested to sign up for a life insurance policy. Does that make me a cynic? I often find myself wondering if there will even be a health care system by the time I am 45 and need a kidney transplant. I feel like, as a diabetic, I am pretty much screwed. If we do in fact become a nation with socialized medicine, I sincerely believe it will be the end of all that is good and holy. (Okay maybe not holy). But hey, this is a blog, not a soapbox. And I'm pretty sure no one wants to hear me rant and rave about politics. In fact, I began this blog entry to just talk about the beautiful snow and the fun trip Scott and I took to California a few weeks ago.... So let us move on to happier things...

Scott and I had the FUN opportunity to take a quick trip out to California back in January. We got to spend some fabulous time with his family, which is always a huge treat. We also ventured out into the wilderness and took a 3 mile each way (had to put that out there to make myself sound more awesome) backpacking/snowshoeing trip up to a ski hut in the mountains. Along our journey we came upon David Denman... Who is David Denman, you might ask? Well... he is the dude that plays Roy in "The Office" (one of our very favorite TV shows). Yeah... it was pretty sweet. He talked to us for about 1.38366 minutes. And, alright, so maybe we aren't SURE that's who it was, but we are PRETTY DANG SURE. In fact, we are sure enough that we are just gonna claim that connection to fame. :) Anyway, back to our adventure... it was a lot of fun. Definitely something we want to do again. We were also blessed by Scott's sister Tamra with a beautiful upright piano that now resides in our home. Scott has already learned how to play a few new songs and I feel like it has made our house more into a home. I love it.

Well... this entry has turned into a novel.. Crazy how easy it becomes to just RAMBLE...

Hope you have all enjoyed the transition from the beauty of snow, to the end of the world, how awesome I am for hiking up a mountain through 6 feet of snow and then on to how much I love our new piano.

Happy February!

Oh Snap.

Well... Just showed up at my Mom and Dad's house and upon my arrival found it quite strange that every light in the house was off. I thought about turning around and going home but then decided I might as well come inside for a second and check the weather. (I like to do that so I know if I am going to die on my way to work the next morning or not. You know.... get my life in order and what not.) WELL... sure enough... no one was home. Tennessee was completely OUT and... oh yes... the oven alarm was going off and inside was a very cooked spaghetti squash... one that would have most likely burned to a crisp and could have possibly burned the house down. So... my "Oh snap" moment for the day came when I was able to avert a MAJOR disaster by merely deciding to check the daily weather. :)

The Church is True.

Now go do the right thing.

Winter!

So... I feel like it has been 6 months since my last post... so I figured since I'm sitting here wasting time while I wait for my Cherry bars to come out of the oven, I might as well update you all on life as I know it.

Scott and I have had lots of fun adventures over the past few months... Here are a few that top the list (Or at least a few that I can remember at the current time)...
#1. Scott's parents returned from their mission to Sri Lanka :)
#2. We traveled to CA for Thanksgiving and had fun snowshoeing into the house due to 4 feet of snow.
#3. Bono was diagnosed with Epilepsy but has recently started taking phenobarbital twice a day and is doing wonderfully.
#4. Scott's nephew Tommy was baptized and we were able to make it to Cali for that! We also stopped in Elko, NV on the way and camped in the Ruby Mountains (which I might have mentioned before in a previous blog).
#5. Scott's best friend Alan DeMartini got married in October in San Diego and we got mugged in a McDonalds two hours before our flight home.... Alright, so the dude just stole our food, but holy cow it scared the crap out of us! It was one of those "Did that really just happen?!" moments...
#6. Our cat Persia decided to move out and our sweet chicken Ginger was brutally murdered by a source whom shall remain nameless.
#7. Blue (our bunny) moved in with the chickens for the winter... and seems to be enjoying it.
#8. Scott finished his first semester of Nursing School and is currently on his "winter break"..
#9. My nephew Zack was baptized last week (CAN'T believe he's eight...) and he was about a foot shorter than the other two girls getting baptized that day (SO CUTE).
#10. I'm still working for Access Home Health Care taking care of pediatric patients.
#11. We bought a CAR!!! Never thought I would graduate from SUV's.... but alas, driving 125 miles a day in a truck that gets 12 miles to the gallon just WASN'T practical.
#12. Liv got married. True Story.
#13. Scott and I went to a Guster concert last night that was simply amazing. We bought merchandise.
#14. We spent Christmas with my family this year and had a total blast. Kind of lame that we had more snow on Thanksgiving than we did on Christmas though. We also cut down our Christmas tree again this year which is ALWAYS a fun adventure. :) We also have yet to take it down. Oops. We like Christmas WAY too much. Oh.. and Scott was an Inn Keeper in the annual Israelsen Christmas Pageant. He was FABULOUS. *side note: the dress that he is wearing in the picture is one that belonged to my great, great grandma... She wore it in the 1920's... and I must say... it looks SMASHING on young Nathan.
#15. Scott decided to sleep up Green Canyon in a backpacking tent that I got him for Christmas. It was well below zero that night.
#16. I won tickets to the MOTAB Christmas Concert starring DAVID ARCHULETA! That was simply fabulous. Oh yes.
#17. We joined Netflix. What a wonderful thing. I have recently forced Scott to watch some oldie goldies with me such as "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane" (if you want a good old fashioned intense thriller/horror film, check it out) and "The Birds" (Classic Hitchcock). On the flip side, he has introduced me to films like "Tommy Boy" and "Zoolander". Surprisingly, we both tend to really enjoy each end of the film spectrum.
#18. We are not expecting a child, but thanks for asking.
#19. I'm running out of random things to tell you.
#20. We went to the "This is the place heritage park" for the first time in both our lives and enjoyed it immensely.

Well my friends, my cherry bars are finished cooking (lucky you) so I shall wrap this crazy entry up. .... Yep..... I don't really have anything else to say. So.... Amen?

We got to take pictures of our cute friends Teresa, Tucker and Buffy! Buffy has spunk and Tucker is ruler of the universe. I drug them around in the rain and sleet and had a great time. Thanks T for putting up with my crazy ideas and thanks to Ester for editing all the shots :)

Hollie and Jake!

I had a great time taking some engagements for a friend from class, Holly and her fiance Jake! They put up with me running in circles and standing uncomfortably close with my lens practically in their eyes. Great couple, they couldn't keep their lips apart! Hope you guys like them, let me know which editing styles you like!

A Wonderful Man... An Incredible Legacy...

On September 4th, 2010 the world lost & Heaven gained an incredible man. Scott's grandpa Tom Stephenson passed away at the age of 92. I feel so blessed to have known him and that I was able to spend some time with him before he left this earth. What a wonderful man. Grandpa Stephenson was the type of person who could successfully bring a smile to your face each and every time you saw him. He was the type of person who filled a room with sunshine and happiness. The type of person who, despite significant hearing loss, would always smile and nod, even if he couldn't hear a word you were saying. He was also the type of faithful person who attended church every Sunday, even though he was unable to hear a word that was spoken.

One of my favorite things about grandpa was his love for grandma Bun. It was so obvious to me that he loved her more than anything. It was always so cute watching them interact and seeing him take charge when it came time for the dishes to be cleaned. I was told straight away that grandpa would be doing the dishes and that I was not to touch them. I have heard story after story about grandpa's work ethic, and I believe every work to be true. All you have to do is look at his beautiful orchard and garden to see some of the fruits of his labors. Even though I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with grandpa, I can just look around at his posterity and see so clearly the type of man that he must have been. We attended his funeral this past Saturday, and that chapel was chuck full of some of the kindest, most wonderful people I have ever met.
Every one of his children are the type of people that you just can't help but love. I feel so incredibly blessed to be apart of his family and for the memories that I have of him. I have always loved hearing stories from Scott about grandma and grandpa Stephenson and I feel so blessed to be apart of such a wonderful legacy. We love you grandpa.

Thomas Ashby Stephenson

August 9, 1918 - September 4, 2010

A Beautiful Couple...

Thanks to Scott and his amazing photography skills, we were able to take some awesome pictures of Liv and John a couple weeks ago. They get married in less than two weeks! Amazing how time flies! And talk about a beautifully photographic couple!