October Fun!

October was a fun-filled month! We still managed to have some fun even though we are both so busy with school. We did a lot of fun things with family, friends, neighbors and even just the two of us!

Rob had a birthday on the 16th and turned 24! His birthday was on Sunday so we partied Friday, Saturday, and (kinda) on Sunday! On Friday we went to dinner and the Haunted Forrest with our friends Preston and Lane, and Rob's sister Andrea and their cousin Allison (and their dates of course). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to get any pictures, and I don't know how to get pictures off Facebook anymore so I don't have any pictures to show for that fun night.

But on Saturday we went to Tucanos with Rob's family and made haunted gingerbread houses with a couple in our ward, it was a lot of fun! And who knew they made haunted gingerbread kits? Not me!

Then on Sunday, we had a little get together at our house with family and some of Rob's closest friends. Rob really wanted a Cold Stone cake, so instead of being a good wife and making him a cake, I went and bought one!

One day we took a nice drive up squaw peak to see the pretty trees! It is so pretty up the canyon this time of year. I only have the pictures I took on my phone so you can't really see the colors but it was beautiful!

We also went four wheeling up squaw peak and it was FREEZING! I really need to figure out how to get pictures of Facebook or start bringing my own camera because we got some funny pictures of us. I was wearing like a full on camo bodysuit by time we were done. But hey it kept me warm!

We painted pumpkins with our friends Toni and Abbey...

And finally, it was Halloween! As usual, we threw our costumes together the day of so they are nothing too fancy. I had to dress up for school because those 1st graders would have been mad at me if I didn't dress up. So we went to Smiths at 11:50 on Saturday night to buy a witch hat and broom stick (that broke as I was opening it). Rob went and dug through his mom's Halloween closet and grabbed a ghost dress that was really a shirt on him. We went to Rob's parents first and saw the kiddies and had pigs in a blanket, then we headed over to my parents for some clam chowder (I ate at my mom's and he ate at his mom's), and some tricker treating with the little ones. We ended that night at the Richard's (Rob's friend) for a doughnut party! It was a good night!

obviously no one was into having their picture taken..

I need help...

For my multicultural education class we are required to post this video

on some type of social website and get people's opinion on this topic.

Is everyone a little bit racist? Please watch this

video and leave a comment letting me know what you think!

I have to write a paper about the responses I

receive, so don't be bashful! Thanks!

Back to the books

Don't you wish your kitchen table looked this fun?

Well school is here and we are in full swing, even though it is still the first week! I have to confess though... I kinda like school! It's amazing how much more you enjoy it when you are learning about things that interest you and you care about.

The only thing I am worried about is my husband still being alive at the end of the year... All the horror stories I have heard about the Accounting Jr. Core are coming to life and I am not even the one that has to do it! But if I do say so myself, supporting your husband as he goes through it is almost just as hard.. Ok not really because I could NEVER actually do it, so I am going to be the best supporter ever! At least I am going to try..

So here's to a busy/fun/hard/supportive semester!

Our 4th of July!

We started the weekend off at Stadium of Fire with Rob's family.

And because I am the horrible picture taker that I am, this is

our one and only picture from the night.

However, the fireworks were AMAZING this year!

I was in awe the whole time!

Then, on the 4th my parents came home!!

It was so much fun picking them up at the airport,

and even more fun having them home!

I have the cutest nieces and nephews!

And husband! :)

After the airport we went to my aunt and uncles house

for a BBQ and fireworks with my dad's side of the family.

Once again, I am horrible at remembering to take pictures

so we don't have any pictures to show for it,

but we had a great time!

To say the least,

it was a wonderful weekend/day!

I've got the Decorating Bug

Since school is out, I have some extra time

on my hands so I decided to decorate some more!

As I have been buying decorations little by little

to decorate our house,

I have discovered that I really enjoy decorating!

It has been a lot of fun finding furniture

and decorations for our house.

I thought I would share one of my creative ideas

I had this week.

It's super easy, and super cheap!

I went to Michaels and bought 3 frames that were 50% off.

Then I went to JoAnn's and bought enough fabric to

fit inside the frame.

I cut the fabric and taped it to the frame,

put the glass on and that was it!

(Please excuse the cheesy/bad photography)

I am also quite proud of some other purchases I made,

so I thought I'd share.

I found this lamp at Target after I had seriously searched every

decorating store I knew of.

Of the 10 stores I went to I found some I liked,

but I didn't feel like spending a fortune on just a lamp;

I was shocked at how expensive lamps are!

I finally found one that I liked and was a decent price,

so here it is!

I found this cute pillow at Pier 1 and loved it!

So there ya have it!

My next project is to cover pillows. I am going to use the same

fabric that I used for the picture frames.

I have to wait till my mom gets home to help me with that

one though!

Happy Father's Day...and some other things

Somehow my Dad always seem to disappear

when the camera is out, therefore pictures of him are

few and far between.

Also, because he wasn't able to come to our

wedding I missed out on a prime photo of me and him.

But as I looked through my pictures,

I found one that shows the love he has for his

family, and he is in "mission attire"

so I figured he would approve.

(My parents with all their grandchildren minus two)

So HAPPY FATHERS DAY

to my wonderfully talented, intelligent,

wise, loving, and hard-working Dad!

I love you!

I am so excited for my parents to come

home in two weeks!!

They have been serving a mission in

Macon, Georgia

for the last three years!

Each day I get more and more anxious.

A lot has happened in three years,

and they have missed out on a lot.

It will be good to have them home and

be able to see them whenever we want

Tangent:

We went to the lake for the first time this

year, and we had a blast!

There definitely were some kinks

to work out for the rest of the season.

For example we were putting the boat in the water and

the boat wouldn't turn on; dead battery.

Thankfully a guy at the lake had jumper cables on his boat.

It took about 2 hours to actually get on the lake after

we left, but once we did we had so much fun.

The water was freezing so Rob

was the only brave one to actually get in.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him tearin'

it up on the surf board.

But I got some of me, Andi and Hailey on the tube.

Rob went soft so we didn't fall in and get wet.

And here is Rob with his manly look.

Even though it wasn't the warmest day,

it was still fun to get out on the Lake!

Another tangent:

We leave for Florida tomorrow with Rob's family!

It will be a fun week of hanging out at the beach!

We will probably go to a theme park and a water park

or something while we are out there, but I bet we will

be on the beach most of the time which is fine with me!

Stay tuned for pictures to come!

Happy rainy Father's Day

In over our heads

Yard work has never been something I

totally thrill over ... and I still wouldn't say it's my favorite

thing to do. However, it's a lot more fun

when it's your own yard, (sorry mom)!

When we moved into our house the yard was a DISASTER!!

The lawn was dead, weeds were in abundance,

and several bushes were dead.

We had A LOT of work to do.

We have slowly been working on improving our yard.

We started picking weeds a couple weekends ago,

which were never-ending!!

It seriously took us like 3 hours to pick 1

flower bed between the two of us.

Today we went back at it, and decided we are in over our heads.

Neither of us know ANYTHING about gardening.

I will say that is has been fun learning about it and picking out different

plants and trees to go in our yard.

We spent several hours at Cascade Shadows today

and yesterday looking at plants.

We learned all about annuals, perennials, plants that need shade,

and ones that need sun.

Everyone we talk to tells us a different story

so that part is kind of frustrating.

We did decide to get new soil and kind of

start from the basics.

So this is a bit of a longer process than we were expecting.

We picked out a couple bushes to replace the dead ones

in the front yard.

Now we have to decide want we want for side and

back yard, because its nothing but dirt.

I also bought some pots, and took them to be potted!

I am like weirdly excited to get the pots back!

The moral of the story is...

yard work is definitely hard, but I discovered I like it and

it's more fun than I thought.

I now understand why my mom always

needed help in the yard,

and why she spent so much time on it.

Opportunity

Yesterday as I was driving home from school I had a cool experience.

I was stopped at a light and right next to me was a

lady standing there holding a sign.

Immediately I had my usual reaction to

homeless people holding signs on the street.

Now, my opinion and attitude towards homeless people

asking for money is probably too harsh.

I always have had a kind of heartless attitude

towards homeless people.

I know that sounds HORRIBLE,

but its because of their own decisions that

they are in that position.

So if they really wanted money for other reasons than

drug addictions, they would get A JOB!!

Obviously situations are different for every homeless person

but in general I am not too sympathetic.

Anyway, back to my story...

I was trying not to look at the lady because

then it just becomes awkward, but I wanted to read her sign.

She had an unusual set-up because she had a stroller,

baby food, and other random objects all laid out.

One sign said

"Desperate mother of three. Rent is due, I am willing

to any odd jobs available."

Then her other sign said,

"Will trade any of these things for money."

I sat there staring for a little bit,

then the next thing I know I was rolling down my window

to hand her some money.

It wasn't much but she was so appreciative and for

some reason I felt like she was really sincere.

The light turned and I drove away.

I got thinking, first of all about how blessed I am.

And secondly, about how small of an action that

was and how good it made me feel.

I am not saying this to toot my own horn in anyway,

but mostly because I had been praying for opportunities to serve those

around me, and sure enough, there was my opportunity.

I hope there are many more to come!

Sunshine Getaway

Since it has been SO rainy here the last couple weeks,

we decided we needed some sunshine...

So we went down to St. George with some friends

of ours, Preston and Lane.

It was a really quick trip, but it was still a nice

weekend getaway!

We got there Friday night so and left Sunday morning,

so really we only had Saturday to do stuff.

We went hiking, played tennis, played at the pool, went bowling,

ate tons of treats, more treats,

and had a lot of fun!!

The crew bowling- old school style

(the bowling alley was a little outdated)

Me and Lane at the Pool

(For some reason I didn't get any pictures of me and Rob at the pool)

Hiking

(Look more at the scenery than us)

My Angel Mother

Sorry it's late,

but I wanted to wish my amazing mother a

Happy Mothers Day!

Because there is too much to be said about

this amazing lady, and nobody wants to hear me ramble.

I will keep it short and simple

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my Angel Mother."

-Abraham Lincoln

This quote sums it up for me,

I love you Mom!

Carl Bloch

For my art class we have to write an art criticism paper

and my teacher assigned it early so that we could go to the Carl Bloch

exhibit at BYU if we wanted, since it ends on Saturday.

I hadn't been to it yet and had heard so much hype about it,

so I was excited to see what it was all about.

I got there and they told me they weren't

handing out standby tickets because it was too crowded so

I would have to wait an hour.

So I thought to myself

"is it worth it? I could just find a painting downstairs and be done

by the time I would even get to go in."

But because I knew this was a rare opportunity, I waited patiently.

And boy it was worth it.

Holy cow he is AMAZING.

Now I am not some art guru that stares at paintings forever

"appreciating their beauty,"

but I actually did that.

It helps that they were all pictures of the Savior and

had such meaningful and beautiful messages.

I couldn't couldn't help but sit and stare at a couple paintings.

They were all pictures that I had seen somewhere

or that looked familiar but I didn't realize they were all the same artist.

Here are some of my favorites...

This is when Christ heals the sick at the Pool of Bethesda.

This picture has many messages, but

one that stood out to me was how we have to come to Christ for help

and healing, not seek for help from the world.

Notice they guy in the red hat?

The one who heals all is standing right by him, yet he seeks

worldly help.

Christ invites us all to be like children.

I love that the Savior is the light peeking in through the door,

at that time of sorrow. He is the light of the world.

This painting really stood out to me, and this is the one I ended up

writing my paper on. Christ with outstretched arms says a million words.

I had a really strong impression of the Savior's love for me and

for all of us. The people surrounding Him are faced with all sorts

of tribulations and imperfections.

Yet, he is there to offer comfort, heal the sick,

and forgive the sinners.

The Savior said "come unto me."

"God helps me, that is what I think and then I am calm."

- Carl Bloch-

It all began

One year ago!

This picture was taken on our "second first date,"

and was the start of something good.

We call it the second first date because this is the date

that was the turning point of our relationship.

We had actually been on many dates before this one,

but for some reason they weren't doing the trick.

Our real first date was almost 6 months before this and we

had a total blast together but I guess the sparks weren't flyin'.

For 6 months we would go on occasional dates or get together

with our groups of friends

and send texts or Facebook messages.

But we just couldn't get it together,

He would like me

but I was dating someone else.

Then I would like him

but he was dating someone else,

and so on.

Then finally, the timing was right.

Last May we became "official,"

and after about two weeks of dating I went to Bear Lake with

his family. Which was actually a good move,

we had tons of time to talk and get to know each other.

Then we spent everyday together doing

some kind of fun activity since neither of us were working,

and school didn't seem all that important at the time.

Our summer fling

quickly turned into much more.

Anyway, its crazy how fast time flies!

It feel like it was just a couple months ago that

we were in this dating stage,

now we have been married for 4, almost 5 months!

I can't wait for what this summer has in store for us!

The verdict is in..

I GOT A 4.O!!!!

First of all I want to get it out there that the only reason

I am telling this to the world is because

I never thought this would happen in my college career, never!

Getting straight A's in high school was an often and common occurrence,

but in college, at BYU??

I had a slap in the face after my first semester when I was thrilled to get a C+

in my college algebra class.

There have been other occasions since then that I was just hoping for a C+

(statistics, american heritage, and world civ).

So as you can see this is a little out of the ordinary for me.

I guess school gets easier after you get married..

or I am just really enjoying my major!

Probably both.

Also I want to give a shout out to my hard-working and dedicated

husband who also got straight A's!

(this is a more common occurrence for him, but still awesome)

He had to get A's in two of the pre-recs for Accounting and he did!!

Spring classes started this week,

and lets just say I don't think there will be a 4.0 repeat.

My mind is never really in the right place during spring...only 7 weeks!

Piano

My parents so kindly donated their piano to us and we have been LOVING it!

It has been so fun for us both to be able to play more often.

I have played everyday since we got it, and so has Rob.

It is slowly coming back to me. I am determined to get back to where I was.

I have been working on the song I played at my peak in Piano lessons,

and its definitely a work in progress.

My hands/fingers need to regain some strength back,

they are seriously sore from playing.

I wish never would have stopped playing.

Now I just have more work to do...

It helps that Rob is much better than me so he has been helping me out.

He is a great teacher. :)

Lucky for me, I get to listen to him play all the time!

Unfortunately for him, it's not quite as pleasant to listen to me..

but it's still been a lot of fun!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Josie's Got Talent

Spring Cleanin'

I took my last final yesterday and had some time on my hands

so I decided to go clean out my bedroom at my parents house.

It actually was a fun activity with the help of my sister Melissa

and later Mogan stopped by to join the fun as well.

While cleaning out my closet I realized I have a problem...

I like clothes/shoes too much.

Not only did I have a full closet of clothes at my new house,

but also had a closet full at my parents house.

I also realized I am becoming more and more like my mom;

I had a harder time throwing some of that stuff away than I thought I would.

I always think "well I may need that sometime,"

or maybe I will wear that."

But Melissa kept me straight.

At the end of our cleaning I had 6 Full garbage bags of clothes and shoes.

At least I know that those clothes will go to someone who needs them more than me.

DI has some great finds now!

Not only did DI benefit from my cleaning but so did I!

I found shirts that I forgot I had, so it was like I went shopping

with out spending a dime!

I also found some funny things while I was cleaning.

I found tons of notes that my friends had written to me in Jr. high

and I can't believe the things we talked about/ cared about!

I also found some of my photography work that I did in high school photo class,

it kinda inspired me to be a photographer...

I admired all my homework/notes from high school and Jr. high

that I guess I never wanted to throw away.

And I still didn't, I could only handle so much for one day.

Among my many finds I came across this pink fuzzy photo book with

tons of pictures from back in my pageant/modeling days.

I think I took these pictures for the picture I had to send in of myself or something.

I thought they were pretty funny so I thought I would share a few...

Like Rob and I like to say..

Isn't it a blessing we clean?

Buy a Stranger a "Coke"

For one of Robert's classes this semester his teacher assigned his students to

"Buy a stranger a Coke," it didn't really have to be a coke but the

point was to buy something for a stranger anonymously.

So he went to McDonald's and payed for the person behind him.

A few weeks ago we went to dinner at my family's favorite restaurant - Mama Chus.

We happened to run into my aunt and uncle there and chatted with them and then they left and we continued to eat. When the waiter came to hand us our bill she said that the couple sitting right by us had paid for our dinner.

These couple acts of kindness have really had me thinking lately,

I want to be more serviceable (if thats a word).

It doesn't necessarily have to be buying something for someone

but simply being more aware of the people around me.

During General Conference this month there was a lot of talks

about service which also added to my thoughts on this topic.

M. Russell Ballard gave a talk about service and I love what he said,

"It is only when we love God and Christ with all of our hearts, souls, and minds that we are able to share this love with our neighbors through acts of kindness and service—the way that the Savior would love and serve all of us if He were among us today.

When this pure love of Christ—or charity—envelops us, we think, feel, and act more like Heavenly Father and Jesus would think, feel, and act. Our motivation and heartfelt desire are like unto that of the Savior. He shared this desire with His Apostles on the eve of His Crucifixion. He said:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you. …“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”(John 13:34–35)."

Read this great talk here.

Service is something I want to be better at. I always use the excuse that I am too busy, or once school is out I will be better or something lame like that. I am making a goal to serve others more anxiously and always be looking for ways to serve.

I challenge those who read this to "Buy a stranger a Coke."

Bittersweet

Today was the last day of classes which is a relief but also sad.

Sad? When have I ever been sad that a semester is over?

Never. Although this semester was different,

I actually enjoyed it!

I made new friends,

I enjoyed learning what I was learning,

I loved my classes,

the workload was bearable

and on and on.

Mostly why I enjoyed this semester so much

was because of the people I met and the teachers that impacted my life greatly.

Also because it excited me for what I want to do; to teach.

This semester was one of many firsts:

I wrote my first children's book,

I was in my first play,

(This is my drama class that performed "Bartholomew and the Oobleck ")

I wrote my first lesson plan... and a million more.

I got my first A on a math test.

I recorded my first singing album,

(ok not really, I just had to record myself singing for music which wasn't pretty).

I wrote my first song and made it into a book,

It was my first semester that I got an A on majority of my tests minus math.

I taught PE in an elementary school for the first time

I was called Mrs. Brinton for the first time,

(really just Mrs. B by my PE students)

and you get the point....

This is a picture of some of my dear friends I made this semester.

we went to get ice cream at Macey's for Juliets b-day.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this semester and am sad it's over,

but it will be good to move on.

p.s. as you can tell this is mostly a Tawni blog that involves Robert.

I'd rather be...

Here!

Than getting ready for finals week with this gloomy weather.

Although thankfully this should be my easiest finals week yet!

And should be that way from here on out... hopefully!

A fresh start

So I used to have a blog but then I got busy and lost interest in it. I thought I would give it another shot now that I am married.

I am a horrible journal writer, so I am hoping this can be kind of like my journal which may be boring to some but at least I will have it all written down.

Here’s to a fresh start in the blogging world!