"Survival Mode"

I am not a big fan of the show Survivor or any of the reality TV shows about living/being abandoned on an island like, Lost, but I think that there is no other word that best describes my semester so far in school other than "survival." I am definitely in "survival mode," just doing the best I can to get by from day to day. I don't have time to go the extra mile on my studying or even just relax after my classes like I usually do and it's starting to get pretty tough. I have a lot of different classes this semester, that aren't apart of my major, and I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm not as familiar with the subjects we talk about in class, but the tests are harder and there is a lot more work involved. I think I just had it too easy last semester while we were in Denver haha....I miss it! I'm gonna go with the semester off idea as an excuse and also that I am sooooo ready to be done! Did I mention I GRADUATE this semester...well I do :) yay!!! I am really excited. I can't wait to finish, not only because this semester has been really hard for me, but because I can actually work and save money for a change instead of spending it on tuition. This semester I do work about 15-17 hours a week and I have 5 classes, all of which are very involved with projects and tons of group work. Although it is very busy...I have learned a lot so far and I am enjoying it when I can. It's already the 6th week of the semester and I do not see it slowing down anytime soon...I guess I'm in for the long haul and I'll have lots MORE to catch up with on blogging when I can....hopefully it's soon. I hope all of you are doing well in your own lives....I envy some of you who look like you are having so much fun on your blogs- yes I stalk you, but it's been a while haha! I just can't get over how much we've all grown up and have such busy lives- when did this happen? :) Miss you all! more posts to come......

Jackson Hole

Every winter, Cody and I look forward to taking at least one trip to Jackson. It's not just because of the fun shops and great food, but mostly because of the minor league/ local hockey team which plays on the weekends, the "Moose" games. We like going to watch them play because of the friends that we always go with and the atmosphere of the games. For some reason we keep going every year even though they aren't a pro team and we aren't that into hockey. It's just fun to take a weekend drive out of Rexburg and hang out with friends in a new place. This trip was great because we got to go with some of our good friends Carlee & McKay and I think we had a blast! Lately Cody and I haven't been staying up that late because we both have jobs that start at 8 in the morning, so I felt like a grandma because I was getting pretty tired on the way home. Overall I loved this weekend because we got to catch up with friends, eat amazing Mexican food and watch a lot of drunk people enjoy a hockey game haha :)

Carlee & McKay (and baby to be...) thanks again for going with us you guys! It was great! :)

Jackson "Moose" playing the Bozeman "Bees"

Our good friends Tyler, Mary and Viiince!

SnOw ANYONE??

On Monday the 28th, Cody's mom hosted a fabulous day up at the Hawkes lodge for all the cousins. She called it a SNOW DAY but we all agreed it was more of a snow fest :) because we just spent the whole day playing outside in the beautiful snow. We had two snowmobiles that helped get people into the lodge because the roads were all snowed-in and since not a lot of local people live near their lodge/cabin we just hooked up sleds behind the snowmobile and carried all our stuff in with us.

The Hawkes family has a this great lodge (that they all helped build a couple years ago) in Drummond, just near Ashton, ID. It is in "farm" country because there are a lot of family run farms around and it is where Blaine Hawkes (Cody's grandpa) grew up. The different families on the Hawkes side have also contributed to building their own cabins around different parts of their land that they like to call "The Place." Jeff & Lynda (my in-laws) have their own cabin up there that doesn't have plumbing, but is a great place to stay overnight and so does Cody's aunt and uncle that live in Sugar City. Most of the other aunts and uncles live farther away, so when they come and visit everyone just stays in the lodge....which DOES have plumbing, showers, a dishwasher, electricity, nice cabinets filled with dishes, and two bathrooms. It is huge and not like a real log cabin built without plumbing or electricity. They decided not to put bedrooms in it because although they wanted people to stay over, they just didn't have enough room to build that many rooms for everyone. (Cody's dad is one of 10 children- so this is better for everyone to enjoy and when they do stay over people just sleep on the floor with sleeping bags and it's great!) Since I've been in the family I have loved going up to The Place during all of the seasons. In the summer Cody and I have a great time taking the 4wheelers up there and we also help a lot with mowing the different lawns around and maintaining the work that needs to be done on the cabins....especially with the trees around the cabins and on the roads. Here are some fun pics from our day and in the future I'd definitely remember to post extra pictures of what it looks like in the summer because I love it up there! :)

Cody & I after snowmobiling with everyone :) It was a really fun day and we had a great time sleding down a bunch of hills and being in the snow! (Notice the Teton mountains behind us that are near Driggs, which is only about 45 mins or less from The Place. They are so pretty, but it's hard to see in this picture...the one below is much better!)

I love this picture! :) You can also see our tracks into the lodge from our cars by the main road and the tree. In the summer time there are some amazing sunsets and the tetons always look really pretty.

Our cute nephews, Cohen and his younger brother Eli, who came to visit while they were in UT for Christmas. They are Cody's brother's kids and their family lives in Kentucky so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like :) they've grown up so much since last Christmas when we visited them in KY. Cohen is 4 and Eli turns 2 next month.

Cousins, Cohen (4) and River (7) all bundled up getting ready to go sleding...

Boston (5) taking his younger brother, Simon (almost 2) to the sled to go snowmobiling. It was a pretty cold day, but we all had fun and once we were running around in the snow we all got nice a toasty! :) Thanks to Lynda & Avery for hosting the party and for all the yummy food!

~*~CHRISTMAS 2009~*~

The picture below is from the Peck family get together the day after Christmas at my cousin Danielle's house. This picture is really fun to look at because we almost had all the Peck family there minus a few that were in UT for the holidays. I hadn't seen some of my cousins or my Aunt Rhonda in a couple years and my Uncle Tim and his wife just had a brand new baby which was great to see for the first time. We had a great dinner and it was awesome to be able to catch up with everyone. The next picture is of my grandma and grandpa peck who live in Boise and who we don't see as often as my other grandparents who live in Salt Lake. I love the Christmas season and having family because we always do different traditions and make new ones each year. I love that we celebrate the birth of our Savior and we remember what's truly important instead of worrying about the materialistic gifts we often give to one another. I hope everyone had a great holiday and a great New Years! :)

The day after Christmas my Grandma Barton, all the girl cousins and all the aunts I have in UT, usually get together and go to Gardener Village in West Jordan. We have a really great time eating lunch at the Archibald Mill and then walking around all the little village houses that have fun shops inside.

My grandparents came over on Christmas day and we gave them each a gift. My grandpa got a trophy that said "world's greatest dad and best grandpa" which was given to him by all my mom's siblings and all the grandkids. He has never gotten a trophy with his name on it before and he thought it was really great. His simile was just so cute and something so simple just made his so happy.

My sisters, McKenna (12) & Meighan (21) with their stockings. One tradition in our family is to open the gifts that "Santa" brings us, before we start unwrapping the gifts that we give to eachother under the tree. Usually we all have a spot on a certain couch or part of the living room and after we all come down together we get to see what we have in our stockings. Cody thinks this other tradition is really weird and fun at the same time, but when we were all little we LOVED it. The tradition that I'm talking about is that we all meet in my parents room on Christmas morning and when we're ready, we line up from oldest to youngest and hold onto each others shoulders (like a congo line) and sing "we wish you a merry christmas...." all throughout the house in all the rooms. The last room we end up in is the room where our stockings are and what gifts santa brings.... and the little kids are dying to see what santa brought. Since all my siblings are all grown up we have just continued the tradition because it's kinda fun, really cheesy and we all have a good laugh while doing it.

My brother, Chandler (18) with all his stocking stuffers and gifts.

Cody & I with our "stocking picture" that my mom always gets, when we come down to see what santa left for us, and before we start opening the presents under the tree.

Christmas morning after the damage was done and all the presents were opened. We had a great day and we enjoyed a christmas omelet for breakfast (which is another tradition in our house and is sooooo yummy!)

Cody & I on Christmas Eve at my grandparents house. We had a great dinner with a bunch of my cousins and my aunt and uncle who also live in UT. The rest of my mom's brothers and sisters all live farther away, but we had a great time catching up with those who were there :)

My Grandma Barton (my mom's mom) reading a book we all love and look forward to hearing each Christmas Eve, called Davey's First Christmas. She started reading it when my mom was younger with their family and the tradition still lives on with all the grandkids.

My adorable Grandpa Barton, who always reads from Luke 2 for our Christmas Eve program.

A couple of days before Christmas, Cody and I went to temple square with my family to walk around and look at all the lights. I hadn't been in a couple years and it was wonderful to see all the nativity scenes and people bundled up in the freezing cold. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I had a blast spending time with my family.

The lights on this tree were amazing, but the flash doesn't give it justice because it was dark.

My cute family (Cody and I, Meighan and her boyfriend, Jared, my dad and mom, Chandler and McKenna in front) We were all freezing, but it was great and we had a really fun time.

My Rebel

For my birthday and for Christmas/ any upcoming holiday that involves presents... I will be thinking of my new camera, the Canon Rebel XS, that is absolutely fabulous! I haven't posted any pictures with it yet because I am still having so much fun playing with it and learning how to use it well. So far it has been great and super easy to use, but I am still learning how to take great pics and I want to take my time and learn as much as I can about photography in the process. Since as long as I can remember I have always loved taking pictures (ok- I have to admit, I haven't always loved being in them, but there is something different about taking them that I LOVE) and I am glad that my hubby has been so generous and considerate as I have wanted to persue this as a hobby for a really long time. He has been so great listening to me as I research cameras and look at hundreds of different photos on different people's blogs, websites and even facebook. I had a point and shoot camera that died this last summer and since then I have wanted to invest in something that would be great for the future and for now. Having a great camera just helps capture special moments that much better and I have even thought about maybe making this hobby of mine a job in the near future. I hope to learn more and more about taking pictures so that I can be good enough to take them for others as a small business. Thanks babe for making my birthday and Christmas so great! (and for letting me open it early :) you're the BEST!) Also, I'd like to thank the Siddoways for letting us purchase their camera...I wouldn't be so in love with it if it weren't for you guys! thanks again! P.S. If anyone wants me to take their pictures for them or for your family please let me know...I need more experience and I'd love to do it for you :) Thanks!

~**Happy 23rd B-day**~

WOW! I am getting so old! haha...well- for some people 23 may not be old, but I sure feel like I am still 14 sometimes. I had the most amazing birthday today and I couldn't have asked for anything better. Cody and I drove down to Utah to be with my family and we got down here on Friday and we're planning on staying til tomorrow. My little sister, Mckenna, was in the Draper city Christmas play and we had a great time seeing her perform Saturday night. My family ended up taking me to dinner with everyone before the play to celebrate my birthday because my parents both had other places they needed to be tonight. On Sunday we had an amazing dinner, followed by cake and ice cream; we also decorated my parents Christmas tree and helped put up the other holiday decorations around the house. I don't think I've been home early enough to decorate the tree for about three years, since I've been at school, and I had forgotten how much I really miss it...we had a great time! For my birthday, this afternoon, we met up with my grandparents in SLC and they took us all out to lunch. I was born on the same day as my grandpa, so it was fun being home to celebrate it with him as well. He turned 82 today and has always been a great person to share a birthday with...I always look forward to giving him a card on my birthday as well, it's pretty great! Tonight, Cody took me to see the movie Blindside and we LOVED it! wow- it was such an uplifting and amazing show. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love movies, but it's always so much better when it's a great story and the actors are amazing. I loved that it was a true story and I think everyone should go see it :) My cousin, Jessica, turns 23 tomorrow on Dec. 9th and I have also loved having a birthday so close to hers as well. Growing up so close in age was always fun and I feel so close to her even though we don't always talk all the time. She's a great cousin and I wish her the best on her birthday tomorrow :) Happy Birthday Jess! hope you have as much fun as I did today...you deserve it! xoxo Here are some pics from my fun birthday weekend with the fam..enjoy! McKenna in her Christmas play costume with some of our cute cousins (Becca, Taylor and Cameron)

My delicious cake, made by Costco :) Me with Chandler, McKenna & Cody

* Thanks for a great day everyone!! xoxo

Thanksgiving...Gobble gobble

Ok, so I know I have been really behind on blogging lately, but we just got settled in Rexburg and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here's a recap of what we did for the holiday... First, Cody's uncle that lives in Star Valley, WY invited us to come for dinner...which was perfect because it was on our way home from colorado... we ended up meeting up with Cody's parents and other family members to enjoy dinner and all the festivities. It worked out great because Cody and I left Colorado the day before Thanksgiving and we drove about 3/4 of the trip. We stayed over night in a hotel and then the next day we woke up and drove about 3 hours to his Uncle Don's house for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful day and I am constantly amazed at how much work and effort it takes to make this one meal so fantastic and memorable. Aunt Susie and Don did an amazing job with the food, as well as, Aunt Cindy and my mother-in-law. Everyone helped out and the food was incredible. I have never had to cook a Thanksgiving dinner by myself yet and I hope I won't have to for a while...there is so much I still need to learn and I am just fine with that. haha. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it's not about giving presents or being surprised, it's not about the "stuff." I am always humbled by the blessings and little miracles that happen everyday in my life and I love Thanksgiving because it makes us all appreciate what we've been given. Thanksgiving is often times under-rated or not appreciated as much because it's so close to Christmas and I think it's almost better in someways because it's simple and we can just spend time with family and remember our blessings and show graditude for the things we have. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! :)

Life Update

A couple days ago Cody and I decided to move back to Idaho right before Thanksgiving. It was a big decision because we have the opportunity to stay here until the second week of December (which is when the internship program ends with Cody's company), but we just felt like it was the right thing to do. Since this internship has been unpaid we thought it would be best to spend our time with our families before the new semesters of school start and we are back in the chaos of work and life. We also took into consideration the fact that we didn't want to move in the dead of winter, and deal with all the SNOW, and also pay rent for another month when we could be looking for a place in Rexburg. Anyways- we will be leaving here in about a week or so and it has been bitter sweet just thinking about it. I can't wait to spend Thankgiving and my birthday with our families and be in a familiar town with people we know all around us, but at the same time we have LOVED colorado and we don't want to have to leave when we enjoy it so much. I've loved our adventure here and hopefully in the near future we will be back to stay more permanently. Cody and I will be graduating pretty soon (me in April and Cody in July) so we'll keep our fingers crossed that we find a job here after graduation this upcoming summer. We'll keep you all posted on how our move goes, but it's going to be very interesting getting all of our stuff home the same way we came...it just never fits the same and we have more stuff. haha! Until then...our internet will be down :(
** HAPPY thanksgiving EARLY!! **

Capitol Building

In Denver, we live really close to the Capitol building so one day Cody decided to take work off early and we rode our bikes down the street to take a tour. Our apartment is probably five or six blocks away and it was a great day to be outside because it wasn't that cold and most of the snow was already gone. There are some pictures of the Capitol.

Across the street from the Capitol is the city park and I think the building in this picture is the US Mint. We wanted to take a tour of this as well, but we ended up doing something else after the Capitol building. I thought it was really interesting that most of these places don't allow any purses to be taken in, strollers, cameras, wallets etc... I understood their reasons for security, but it was a little overboard.

On the steps of the Capitol building there is a marker for exactly 1 mile above sea level. Denver is known as the "Mile High City" so I thought this was pretty cool. It's hard to see the writting int he picture, but you get the idea. We had a great day and I would definitely recommend going on a bike ride through a city someday..it was quite the experience because of all the cars and people, but it sure beat paying fees for parking haha :)

Estes Park

For another one of our weekend drives, Cody and I decided to go to Estes Park, which is about 45 mins West of Denver. Some people at work told Cody about it and we thought it sounded pretty cool so we were excited to go. For those of you who have been to West Yellowstone in Idaho, it was a lot like that. I was sad we didn't remember to take any pictures while we were there because it was really pretty up in the mountains. When we first got there we walked around all the shops and found an authentic mexican resturant to eat at since we were really hungry. After lunch we shopped a little bit and I found some really cute red gloves/mittens (the ones with the cut off fingers and the mitten that goes over the fingers) they're so soft and comfortable, I love them! :) We had a great weekend and if we would've had more time I would have loved to go through the Rocky National Forrest, since Estes Park was near one of the entrances into the park.