Christmas Card

Here's our year!

January

We moved to Nampa and I started my student teaching in 1st grade. I had a lot of fun.

February

We went to Utah for my Grandma Tobler's 80th birthday! My mom and dad came to Utah to celebrate her birthday and we drove down from Nampa to celebrate.

March

I finished my student teaching and passed! I MISS these kiddos! I loved them sooo much!!

We also went on a spring break trip to Oregon. We really enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to relax after the stress of my student teaching.
April

Happy Easter! We made hard boiled eggs and rolled them down a hill. This is the dead side of my angry egg. :)
May

This was a big month

We went to see Wicked. Amazing
We also got Scuba Certified! It was terrifying a lot of the time, but awesome. I'm very proud of myself. Scuba diving is beautiful.
I graduated for real! My diploma showed up in May. It was really exciting.
June was EPIC.

We went to Vegas to fly out to....
Hawaii!


July

We drove the 25 hours to Arkansas where I stayed for 3 weeks and J stayed for one. I am thankful he let me stay for so long. He is very good to me.

We went to Lake Ouachita
We went to Harry Potter 7.2 at midnight

August

I turned 22!

I drove to Spokane Washington for Janet's wedding. It was beautiful and a lot of work, but very worth it. He's a great guy and she is so happy with him.
While I was in Arkansas, I began a summer quilt for our bed when it's hot. I finished it in August. A symbol of great accomplishment for me!
September

Jolyn came to Idaho for a couple weeks, so we walked the women's fitness walk and left the boys at home.
This cute boy brought smiles with him from Texas
October

My 9th niece was born!

We had a great Halloween. Lots of candy and fun.
November

We had our 2nd anniversary. My sweet husband and I have been married for 2 years!!!

Here are the flowers he got me. :)
Thanksgiving was great. Kristin made this AMAZING pie. it was great.
We went to the 2nd Ward prom with other couples from our ward. The girls got ready together, we went to Olive Garden, and then danced at a beautiful building in Downtown Nampa.
December

We decorated for Christmas!

(this is Ty and Em's tree that we got to help choose and decorate)
J turned 26! I made him a SCRUMPTIOUS cake and it was a battle scene in...mud....
We went to Tucano's for his birthday party and had a huge group. It was yummy and a lot of fun. J is an awesome man. :)

We flew to Arkansas for a two week Christmas vacation!

It's been a great year!

We are thankful for all of the wonderful blessings we've received throughout and the great people we've been blessed to be with. We like Nampa a lot. We are hoping to move into a new house next January and see what else the new year will bring with it.

We know that the Savior lives and died for us. He knows us and loves us.

Merry Christmas!

haha

That awkward moment when, teasing me, J says, "When are you going to do the dishes? When we move into the new house?"

And I think in my head....huh...that's only 2 months.... we could probably make it...

nice.

That irritates me...

DISCLAIMER: I have been wanting to write one of these for a VERY long time. I've been making this list for a while, so it may seem like I'm having a really really crappy day and venting a lot of steam.

In reality, this post is making me feel a lot better. I'm getting it out so I don't flip when someone does one of these things next.

Don't get insulted or hurt, please. I'm mostly doing this to get it out of my head.

1. When people can't say my home state properly. It's said Ar-ken-saw. not ar-Can-zus.

I have tolerated it for a long time. I would tell people at dances I'm from Arkansas and they would say, oh, you're from arCANzus? wow. You don't sound witty, instead, you're insulting my favorite place in the country.

Arkansas was made a state on June 15th, 1836. Kansas was made a state on January 29th, 1861. So. Arkansas was first, therefore, Kansas should probably be said Kensaw!! haha That would be awesome.

So...Yes, it bugs me.

No, I'm not mad if you said it to tease me when we had first met, but if you do it again, you're not so smart, are you?

2. When I comment on something on Facebook and I say something witty, go ahead and like it. If I say happy birthday, liking it is just the same.

But when it's something like a compliment, me saying I'm jealous, I'm telling you I miss you and can't wait to see you, or even a not-so-happy thing, liking it makes me irritated. Liking it makes no sense. If I say "I miss you and can't wait to see you" and you like it, what are you saying? "I like that you miss me."

Like I said, it makes no sense.

3. Whn ppl dnt use vwls.

Oh my goodness, that was difficult!! It took me twice as long. Is it cool? Is it easy? I'm completely baffled.

4. When people take my parking space. Yes, it's on the street, but you have your own parking space half a block up. This is mine!!! I get over it rather quickly, but it bugs me when I'm coming home and want to park in my spot and someone from the next door apartments who have their own parking lot is parked in front of my house.

5. you're and your, their there and they're, to too and two. Yes, we make mistakes, but sometimes people are just careless.

6. When people laugh at my husband. Yes, he likes being laughed at when he is being silly, but if you're laughing at his expense, you're treading on thin ice with a protective wife.

7. Here's something that makes no sense. The creepy Elf on a Shelf. He's creepy. Why is everyone decorating their house with him?

Well, that feels better. I hope if you felt like I was talking to you that you didn't get insulted. I'm just ranting. And it's out now. Feel free to tell me how you feel about these things if you disagree. I put it up, I should take the responses. :)

A whole month of thankfuls!!!

Gah!! I'm very behind. When I would get a moment, I didn't want to blog.

So today, I'm hoping I can catch up with my spare time..... :)

Day 5: I was thankful for good times and games. We had a birthday party for a friend and it was an all-day extravaganza. Lots of fun. I really enjoyed it.

Day 6: I was thankful for my sunday school class. We have a lot of fun. I'm going to miss them when they move up next year.

Day 7: phone calls with my sister. I love following her blog, talking it up on the phone, and especially visiting. I'm excited to be with her when I go home next month!!

Day 8: The name I now respond to: "Mrs. ummmmmmmm..."

I've been subbing a lot and part of the title of substitute comes a lot of forgetting names. I now respond do just about anything. And I don't mind one bit because it means I'm doing what I do best and what I'm made to do.

Day 9: Breakfast. Best. Meal. Ever. Cereal, pop tarts, oatmeal, bagels, pancakes, waffles, french toast...the list sounds sooooo tasty!!!!!

Day 10: Good advice. Sometimes advice isn't so good. But when it is and I'm paying attention, I really learn a lot! I was talking to my sister on the phone and telling her about a house we were interested in, but didn't know if we were in love with and she told me not to do it unless I was in love. We let that house go and are hopefully going to get the one we bid on last week *crossing fingers*

Day 11: The country I am so lucky to live in.

Day 12: Nerdy fun. Game day/night with friends...I was thankful for it before it began. Not so much after. It went very badly....BUT. I like nerdy games. and I'm thankful I can play games with my hubby

Day 13: The gospel of Jesus Christ. I love his loving, caring message. such a blessing in my life! To learn more about my beliefs, go to mormon.org

Day 14: Thankful for our ways of doing laundry. I love washers and dryers. I wish I had my own.....

Day 15: Cute ideas on pinterest. :)

I saw my cute scarf I have and thought of this idea I saw on Pinterest and copied it. You fold the scarf in half, put it around your neck, put one end through the loop, turn around the loop, and put the other one in. It makes more sense when you have the scarf around your neck and you're doing it.

So anyway, I felt really pretty that day. Creative, and cute. I even had glasses on and felt pretty!! :)

Day 16: Cell phones. I started tutoring that day and had directions to the wrong school. FREAKING out, I called my sweet hubby and he calmed me down and got me to the right place. It turned into a blessing in disguise and helped me bond with the kid I tutor, but it was horrible at the time. So I was very thankful for my cell phone being there so I could call my wonderful hubby.

Day 17: Hairdryers. They warm you up and help you style your hair. What more can you ask for?

Day 18: The wonderful lady in my ward who helped me get an interview for a kindergarten teaching job. I didn't get the job, but I got an interview and that's a step.

Day 19: A wonderful, relaxing day with my hubby. We played games, finished a puzzle, and just hung out. I loved it.

Day 20: That day, we sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" in church. I am thankful for this beautiful creation I am so lucky to live on.

Day 21: This was my 2 year anniversary. I am so thankful for my sweet husband. He is such a blessing in my life. I am so excited to spend forever with him!!

Day 22: Hilarious children who beg you to eat lunch with them, tell you you're one of their favorite teachers, and make you laugh.

Day 23: Milk.

Day 24: Wonderful in-laws. They are truly spectacular.

Day 25: Sleeping in.

Day 26: Everett!!! Happy birthday, handsome!!

Day 27: The temple. Nowhere else can I have so much peace and joy.

Day 28: Fun music to cheer me up.

Day 29: My mom. I couldn't ask for a better woman.

Day 30: I'm thankful for this special month to remind me of all that I'm thankful for.

First, I get to have an anniversary and be reminded of how lucky I am to be married to someone so wonderful.

Then, I get to spend Thanksgiving with family which means so much to me.

At the end of the month, I get to then prepare for Christmas in which I am reminded of the Lord's great love to send us His son.

Only day 4 and already behind...

I have no excuse for missing Wednesday. I guess I was so focused on dinner and hanging out with J and Tyler that I forgot??

Anyway, Day 2's thankful was for my sweet hubby's smile when he comes home from work. I LIVE for that smile. It makes my day so bright!!

Day 3: Funny 1st graders.

I subbed yesterday and had some pretty interesting moments.

Like the one where a 1st grader said, "I'm sexy and I know it." Wow. They listen to that??

Or the time where the kid cried 3 times after the hour of 2. school ends at 3.

Yeah, I AM thankful for it. It's always so interesting and hilarious. I loved math yesterday. We really enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot. So it was a truly fun, exciting, roller-coaster kind of day.

Day 4: I'm thankful for shampoo.

I didn't wash my hair yesterday in order to not wake up before the birds did and still get form Star to home to school on time. I made it in splendid time, by the way.

So today I washed my hair and took a while doing it because it just felt so nice!!!

You know what else I like? getting new shampoo. It always does wonders for my hair. So every 2 or so bottles, I switch it up. Right now, I'm using Pantine. Last time, it was Garnier.

Yummy stuff...

We'll see how weekends go. I was thinking I'd do pictures for every day...but that hasn't worked. I'll do them when it works out... :)

November Thankfuls

I love November. I think I love most if not all of the months.... :)

I'm planning on putting a blog up for every day about what I'm thankful for.

Today, I'm thankful for days where I can fold warm laundry and read a good book.

Halloween!!

I LOVE Octobler.

The reason I put Octobler instead of October is because my maiden name is Tobler. And when you type t-o-b...you automatically put l-e-r in as well. So we call it Octobler.

I LOVE dressing up. It's always fun. Sadly, I usually use my best costumes before Halloween instead of the day of.

Here are some pictures of the festivities.

These are the pumpkins that J and I carved with Emily.

Left to right: J's, mine, Em's scared one, and Em's scary one.

We didn't get to this one, so I finished it on Friday. It's a ghost flying over a graveyard! :)

J with our pumpkins.

On Friday, J's boss invited us to a party at his home. We were supposed to bring a treat or two. So we brought two of our favorite Halloween Snacks.

The first is Deviled Eggs with Spiders on top.

I know, it's weird that I took pictures of the process, but I was having fun. :)

I only split ONE egg. Man, I'm good!!

The ingredients. A couple spoonfuls of Mayo, a couple squirts of mustard, about 2 Tbsp relish, and a bunch of shakes of this All-spice. We really like this seasoning.

The result: YUM.

Then, cut your olives in half, use a half for the body, then cut the other into fourths and then halves of those fourths so that the legs are shorter.

The other thing we made was used Q-Tips. Gross, I know, but awesome.

Last year, we cut off the ends of Q-tips and used the box, but this time, we bought toothpicks and that worked out well.

So it's Marshmallows, Butterscotch-melted in the microwave at half power 30 seconds at a time and stirring between each-, and let it sit for a bit. Really easy.

This is my hot hubby on Friday before work. The employees of Scentsy were having a trick or treat at the offices, so his entire department dressed up as Tim Burton film characters.

The VP-J's dad, even dressed up as Tim Burton.

Each group chose a film. J's was Nightmare Before Christmas. Another group did Alice in Wonderland.

Then, each of the floors were available to go to by family members and they all decorated. Very creative and fun.

Here's Jack Skellington.

His mom made the bat tie. I can't claim it. :)

Here's Jack's transformation...

For the party, we were a Knight and Lady. J's mom made both of these outfits, too. Very cool. We had fun with it.

On Halloween day, I made Pumpkin Soup. A tradition for my family is that mom makes pumpkin soup and dad orders pizza. So I made pumpkin soup, had Tyler and Emily try it, and had pizza for if they didn't like it... They liked it. Not love, but like is good enough to me. :)

Here's when the timer didn't work... heehee

We looked great. :)

I think Em won, though.

Happy Halloween!!!