Yes, We are Alive

I know that I haven't blogged in forever! I haven't stopped blogging I have just been super lazy about it for a long time. As of now I'm back to school and Richard is working. I have almost made it to midterm and I will graduate in December. For something new, Richard and I are working on a house plan and hope to start building no later than next spring. That is all for now, but I will try and catch up on blogging from the summer.

Spring Break & Easter 2010

My spring break started on, March 29th, and will end tomorrow on, April 7th. I didn't do anything too exciting. I did some homework here and there and mainly just relaxed. On April 1st I went to Red Lodge and Billings with my mom and mother-in-law, Careen. I always look forward to shopping with those two because I know it will mainly be for decorations. I was able to get some really cute decorations for our house. We also ate at McKenzie River Pizza for lunch, which was really good. We were gone all day long and had a great time together. Other than that I really didn't do anything else over spring break. I'm looking forward to going back to classes and getting back into a routine. I only have around 16 days left and this semester will be over. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Easter weekend was filled with spending time with family and watching General Conference. Sunday morning, Richard and I went to my parents to watch conference. My mom made a yummy breakfast, which we enjoyed while watching the first little bit of conference. Between the two sessions we just talked and relaxed. After the last session of conference was over we helped my mom make deviled eggs for dinner that night at Becky and Greg's. Richard and I left my parents house to go home and grab a salad before going up to Becky and Greg's house. We enjoyed Easter dinner at their house with Richard's family, my parents, and Greg's dad and his wife. The food was really good and the company was even better. The Easter bunny was really nice this year and gave Richard and I an Easter basket with all of our favorite candy (my parents) and some decorative eggs (Richard's parents). The best thing about this Easter was having the opportunity to listen to the Prophet and apostles. I enjoyed all the talks and felt a strong spirit. Its always amazing how the people who give talks aren't assigned a certain topic, but there is always a combining theme throughout General Conference. This just goes to show how the Lord has a hand in all things.

It Has Been a Year Already

Richard and I celebrated our one year anniversary on Sunday, March 14. We spent that weekend in Billings celebrating. We left Friday after I got done with my morning classes, spent the night on Friday, and came home Saturday night. On Friday when we got to Billings we went to a couple of stores and bought some items for our house we have been wanting. Around four we checked into our hotel and hung out there until around seven thirty when we went to dinner. We went to the new Jake's Bar and Grill over by Costco. It wasn't the best meal ever and it was kind of pricey. Richard ordered a baseball cut stake and I ordered ribs. Mine turned out good, but Richard pretty much got a rare stake, but wouldn't send it back. He just ate the outside of it, but still had some trouble getting a few pieces down. On Saturday we went to breakfast at Crackle Barrel because they have really good french toast. After breakfast we went to a couple more stores and then went home. We enjoyed spending time together and doing something a little different.

I just want Richard to know that our first year together was more than I could have hoped for. I'm grateful he chose me to spend forever with and I'm looking forward to growing and learning together. He is a wonderful man and I love him very much.

Catching up

I have just been going to school and Richard has been working. Last week was midterms and I only had one midterm to take. It was in business law and I was pretty nervous to take it. It turns out I got one hundred percent on it. The grades for midterm were posted today and as of right now I have straight A's in all of my classes. It's a relief to know that I'm doing well and that half of the semester is over. Richard's dad has been getting a lot of work lately, so Richard is busy now and will continue to stay busy.

Lately we have been spending a lot of time cleaning up the yard and making plans to build a fence, plant grass, and just make the yard look nice. A couple weeks ago we cut down two pine trees in the back yard. Nash Rasmussen has a man lift, so he came over and helped Richard. We were able to get most of the mess cleaned up that same day. We carried the branches off to a burn pile and Ben Schneider came and took the rest for fire wood. We are grateful for the help because it made a big job much easier and faster. There were a ton of electrical wires all around the trees we cut done. This made the job a little trickier, but they only hit them a couple of times and no harm was done.

Valentines Day 2010

Our Valentines Day this year was good and we both enjoyed spending time together. For Richard, I made him a candle light dinner and decorated our room. I wouldn't tell him what I was making so it was kind of a surprise. I made BBQ ribs, baked potatoes, peas, salad, and rolls. It turned out well and it tasted yummy. Richard enjoyed it and that was the most important thing to me. Before we ate Richard surprised me with 2 liters of Dr. Pepper and flowers! I loved them both! He picked the flowers out all by himself and he made them look similar to my wedding bouquet. After we ate dinner I finished decorating our room for Richard. I got a bunch of balloons to go behind our bed. Then for the hard part I cut out over 60 hearts to put around our room. I put most of the hearts on ribbon and hung them from the ceiling so it was "raining love" in our room. I put the rest of the hearts on the bed. I split the hearts up into three groups. Some were coupons, some were what I love about Richard, and some were just conversation heart sayings. When Richard saw the room he liked it and liked the coupons and reading what I love about him. After I showed him the room he had one more surprise for me. He got me a purple necklace which I love. All in all our Valentines day was fantastic and will be well remembered.

Thank you for a great Valentines day babe! I love you!

Christmas 2009

Our Christmas celebration started on Wednesday after Bob, Dani, and Addie arrived. Richard and I headed out to my parents house to eat tacos for dinner and to take part in a family tradition. The cool thing about this family tradition is that Nick and Lindi got to be a part of it even though they were in Las Vegas.

On Christmas Eve Richard worked for part of the day and I went and hung out at my parents house with my mom, Dani, and Addie. That night Richard and I went to his parents house to celebrate Christmas Eve with Eric's family, Shane's family, Grandpa and Grandma Walker, and Great Grandma Walker. We had a great dinner and then Craig read the Christmas story from Luke while the kids put the Nativity scene together. After that we opened our family gifts from each other and the kids opened one gift.

On Christmas Day Richard and I woke up and opened our presents to each other at home. Then we went over to Richard's parents house and enjoyed breakfast just us and them. Afterwards we opened presents from each other and played with a cool little remote car that Richard received. Next we headed out to my parents to spend Christmas day with my family. Once we got there we opened presents and then worked on the always famous puzzle until Christmas dinner was ready. To explain the puzzle- every year Bob buys a puzzle as a family gift so that we can all put it together. Our relationship with the puzzle tradition is a love hate one. Mostly for Bob it is just love :). Anyway my mom prepared a wonderful meal as always. After we ate we worked on the puzzle some more and then watched Julie & Julia to take a break from the puzzle. To end the night we once again worked on the puzzle for a while and then Richard and I went home.

Saturday Richard and I slept in and then a little after noon went to the bowling alley for the Walker Christmas party. We bowled a few games and visited with the family. Later on we went to my parents house and hung out for a bit. Then around seven my parents and Bob, Dani, and Addie went to a Christmas party for a bit while Richard, me, and Jake Bischoff went to Old Dogs at the Hyart. After the movie we went back out to my parents house to play Tripoly- which I totally kicked butt at and beat everyone! On Sunday Richard and I went to church and then for dinner went out to my parents house. On Monday I took down my Christmas decorations inside and spent time with Dani and Addie out at my parents house. That night we ate pizza and played a few games. Richard and I went home and said our goodbyes to Bob,Dani, and Addie because they went home the next morning.

New Years Eve Richard and I decided to have a little party with some of our friends. I made lil' smokies and wings and people brought pop, chips, and dip. We had Matthew, Charlene, Daniel, Kasi, Meredith, and Matt come over to celebrate the new year with us. We played Phase 10 for what seemed like forever. Then we snacked on some food while we watched Taken. We paused the movie to bring in the new year right before midnight. Finished the movie and then for the rest of the night or morning I guess we visited with each other.

That wraps up 2009 for us and it was a great year. We hope that next year is even better and Richard and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Our First Christmas Tree

Our first Christmas tree turned out pretty good. I like it a lot and I love the Christmas spirit it brings into our home. It has also been fun to decorate for Christmas. We don't have a lot but it's enough to make our home feel more like Christmas. My mom bought me most of our Christmas decorations because she had my name this year and that is what I asked for. So thanks mom for the great gift. Also Careen helped me make the bow that is on our Christmas tree and it's my favorite part. So here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

I went on the tour of homes that the woman’s club does and they had a drawing to win something. Well my name was drawn and I won this nice Nativity set!

Richard and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!