We're Back!!!!

PREPARE YOURSELF....IT'S LONG!!!!

Ok, I know we've been slacking on the blog (still not as long as Jana though ;) ) but we're back!!! School has been so crazy that we just haven't had time to sit down and make a post about all our amazing adventures. Our one year anniversary is where we left off, so I'll try to tell about all that has happened since then. Unfortunately, I have no time to wait for pictures to upload so we'll have to do that later. Sorry!!!

First, I turned 21!!!!!!!! I am no longer a baby and am now legal! We drove down to Colorado with Eric's mom Jill to have Thanksgiving dinner with Nate and Jana (the above mentioned person that still hasn't updated her blog since happy birthday grandma in October.)We spent my birthday exploring Colorado and going to this amazing canyon and waterfall.It was nice just spending the day with him and seeing some awesome stuff. When we got back, Eric's mom had made me Pitas for dinner and Eclair Pie that I love!!!! We ate dinner and played games for the rest of the night! It was so much fun! Thanksgiving dinner was awesome! Nate is a genius in the kitchen and prepared a juicy and tender turkey soaked in a brine mixture in a bucket on the back porch all night. We had all the usual Thanksgiving fixins to go with it and Eric got the meal he waits for all year! We unfortunately had to drive home that night for Black Friday the next day but we made it safely and Eric sold many computers, bumping his number for November higher than ever!

Second, Thanksgiving passed and school continued (Boring) until Christmas break! Eric worked Christmas Eve but when he got off, we went up to Heidi and Scott's house to play games and eat dinner with his family. His mom was there and cooked a fabulous meal. I made the turkey (for the very first time in my life) and some of Heather Clarke's amazing corn pudding (which happens to be one of Eric's many favorites) and we enjoyed a lovely family dinner. We played games all night with his brothers and sisters and then crashed on their floor, waiting for Santa to come. We woke bright and early to the sound of kids giggling and babies crying to open presents. We got some nice clothes and body sprays and hygienic things from the Lazerson's and we got Eric's mom a camera for her mission. She loved it and we expect to see many shots of Australia from it!!! We left after presents to go home and change and grab our suitcases for our CRUISE!!!!

Third, the CRUISE!!!!!! We drove to my mom's house Christmas morning and had the traditional breakfast with my family at grandma's house. The rest of the day was just relaxing, due to the fact that the next morning, we would be flying to Florida for our CRUISE!!!!!!!! When we finally got there (after flying standby and waiting for seats at the airport), we checked into a hotel that was right on the beach and spent a fun day in the sun. Eric and I explored the beach, which was literally a two minute walk from our room, and gathered seashells and took pictures. It was nice to just relax after such a stressful month of buying presents and working and going to school. The next day, we packed up and went to the harbor to board the ship, ELATION. We spent 4 days on the ship, stopping in Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. In Freeport we went snorkeling in the ocean. We rode a boat for about 30 mins to a small reef where we dove in with our snorkel gear and spent an hour with the fish. I have a phobia of fish so for the first 10 minutes, I wouldn't look down and kept swimming as fast as possible so they wouldn't touch me. I finally looked down and realized that the ocean is the most beautiful thing ever!!! After that, no one could get me to come up. Eric took off on his own, of course with his waterproof camera, and took as many pictures as he could. In Nassau, Eric and I took a tour of the historical stops, seeing the U.S. Embassy and Eddie Murphy's private island and visiting a Pirate Museum that was designed as if we were on the pirate ship. After the tour, we went back to our ship for lunch and to change into our swimsuits so we could go swim with dolphins (THANKS MOM!!!).

We got on a fairy that took us to Dolphin Encounters where we were suited up in wet suites and allowed to slide into the pool with the dolphins. We had two females that were very loving and playful. We took pictures with them and pet them and then they had us dance and sing with them. Before it was over, they had everyone do a foot push with the dolphins. We laid on our bellies with our feet spread and flexed and the dolphins came up behind us and pushed our feet with their mouths. It was so much fun! It has been my life long dream to swim with dolphins and even though Eric was a little nervous at first, he had a great time too. We want to do it again ASAP!!!!!

We spent New Year's Eve on the ship but it wasn't that great. The weather was bad and the water was rough. I got sea sick and everyone on board was drunk so Eric and I spent the night watching movies in the cabin. All the sudden we heard "Bravo Bravo Port side" over the speaker. Everyone was sent back to their rooms and out our window we could see life rafts, spotlights, a helicopter, and coast guard. The anchor dropped and we soon learned that one of the off duty crew members went overboard. We were stopped until 6am when coast guard finally let us go. We never heard an announcement of what officially happened but it is believed he was just taking pictures with some other off duty crew members and went over. When we got off the ship, news crews were swarming the dock, ready to talk to anyone willing. We declined because we didn't know anything about it because no announcements were made. We later read the story on the front page of CNN on the internet in the airport. They never found him and called off the search on the 5th or 6th of January. Pretty sad!

Overall, the cruise was awesome and we are saving up to go on another one with some friends in perhaps a year or so.

Fourth, back to school. :( After the cruise, we went back to school, finished up finals and signed up for our new classes. Spring semester started and now we are going to school full time and working full time! It is so crazy! We decided to take classes together so we could actually see each other this time, so even though the work load is nuts, we are still together.

Fifth, we got a new car!!!! My little sister is turning 16 and my mom said it would be nice to have her car back for her to drive. Taking this excuse, we started researching cars. We went to the auto show and many dealers and finally settled on the Santa Fe. We found an amazing deal on an '08 with only 20 miles of test driving on it. To top it off, it was the dark cherry red that I wanted and we had a sun roof and heated seats installed. We love it!!! Mom got her car back and now we have two nice cars to get us around town.

Sixth, Jill goes on a mission! We sent her to the MTC yesterday after a fun filled weekend of family. Eric and I went up to Heidi's on Friday night after work and class and played games and ate with family. Scott and Ana stayed at our house and were amazed by our huge TV and nearly 400 movies. After class on Saturday, we spent the evening eating pizza and playing scrabble. Tris and her baby were able to come as well as Matt and Alissa, and Scott and Ana. Sunday we went to church at Heidi's ward and then had a big family dinner where Eric's aunts and uncles (including Elder Christofferson) came for dinner. It was so humbling meeting an apostle and we had such a spiritual evening enjoying the occasion and family surrounding us. Monday morning, we got dressed up and met at Heidi's again for a blessing. Eric, Scott Lazerson, and Scott Munhall laid their hands on Jill's head and Eric offered a beautiful blessing to his mom. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was amazing! We took her to the MTC where Ana placed the "Dork dot" (now known as the "celestial dot") on her collar and we took pictures and sent her on her way. She was in the MTC for a week then back to Heidi's for the night. Eric and I joined them for dinner Sunday night and then after work on Monday, we met up with Matt and Alissa and took her to the airport. She did really well, not bursting into tears and being ready to go. She should have arrived in Melbourne, Australia Wednesday morning but we haven't heard from her yet. We hope she is well and wish her the best!!! That night, we went to the Pie with Matt and Alissa for dinner and then spent the night playing games at their house until we drove back around midnight to work the next morning.

Seventh, and this really happened while Jill was at the MTC, Eric won an all paid trip to Midway from working hard at Simply Mac so we spent the weekend up there. We stayed at the Homestead with about 12 other co workers and their wives or friends. They paid for our room for 2 nights and all the food. We went snowmobiling (my first time) on Friday morning. It was so much fun and was snowing lightly so we had a lot of fresh powder. Eric and I were so sore afterward that we couldn't even move. They also had a banquet for us where they presented Eric with a really nice award for being an amazing employee. It was such a nice trip and they sure hooked us up. They paid for rooms, food, snowmobiling, the award, a laptop case, a backpack, a really nice jacket, two t-shirts, and a $100 gift card to do whatever with. Thank you Simply Mac!!! You really did an awesome job and we appreciate it!!!

And now, the final highlights of our life:
*Jana and Taffy are pregnant and due in July!!!! YAY!!!!

*I finally met Cannon and he is sooooooo cute!

*I met my first apostle and had a very spiritual and humbling experience.

*We are still looking for a bigger place to live so we wont be so cramped with all of our crap!

*Eric is obsessed with Photography and is loving his photography class! He developed his first roll of film, made his first prints, and loves it!

*We are failing our Biology class so far but will continue trying our best. We just took our first exam so Pray we passed!!!!!!!

*We are going to Las Vegas with Brett and Annie at the end of February for the NASCAR race and the LOVE show. First road trip in our new car!!!!!!!

*We are planning on going to Nebraska for the 4th of July with Brett and Annie! Second road trip in our new car!!!!!!!

*My little sister Morgan will be 16 at the end of March and is driving everyone nuts to take her out driving. She was pulled over for the first time learning to drive a stick. She popped the clutch and lunged forward right in front of a cop and he pulled her over. No ticket though. He was nice about it.

*My best friend Alexis is spending the semester in Jerusalem and though I am really happy and excited for her, I miss her like crazy!!! (I promise I will write. I just don't know when. It has to be perfect and take some time!)

*Two of my dear friends are getting married on the same day and I'm going to both, so it will be crazy!!!!!! No one else get married on March 6th!!!!

*Our friend Joe Sigety is now engaged! May 29th!!! Congrats guys!!!!

*Brett and Annie got a new puppy named Gus. He's so stinking cute!!!!! And it's Annie's birthday tomorrow (the 14th). Happy Birthday Annie!!!

*Eric is on a crazy cleanse diet that Heidi set up for him. He can only eat brown rice, raw veggies and fruit. Man, have I been starving. I didn't agree to the diet but have ended up doing it anyway because I can't cook anything!!!!!!

*LOST is back on and is AMAZING!!!!! The Bachelor is my new obsession as far as TV shows go. GO MELISSA!!!!! True Beauty is another really funny show. We haven't watched the Office at all this season so no spoilers!!! Desperate Housewives is still our favorite Sunday night show.

*It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and we are just staying home and sleeping(and eating a salad.) YAY!!!!!!

Well, I can't think of much else. That's what's been going on. Sorry it was such a long post (probably not as long as Jana's will be when she finally updates). We will do our best to get a slide show put together and post the link so you can see our pictures. Hope everyone is doing well!!! We love you!!!!





***I was just kidding Jana!!! I know you cant look at the screen for long! We would love an update though!!!!!!