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Phone pics

I've realized since I got my iPhone that I don't use my camera as much for everyday uses... So I decided to upload the best pics from my phone into my blog, genius!

This pic is from when I was in Lodi. My parents have a garden, but they don't know that you have to pick a zucchini before it grows to be too big. Aubrey is illustrating how massive it truely was!
My family had lots of fun playing with the picture editing on my phone during church. Noelle edited this pic of Shannon and made everyone laugh for like 5 minutes!
I went to Coco's with my dad, Colin, and Aubrey and Colin had me take this pic for Noelle's benefit. Wished she were there!
Our pet gecko (Ginny) sheds about every 2 weeks, usually during the night and she eats her skin (EW!) before the morning, so we never get to see it. I came home in the middle of the day one day and saw her like this, so I snapped a quick pic and then let her alone to finish up and eat her snack (EW!) in peace.
Every once in a while at the museum I have some down time and I like to bring Oatis out onto the grass to roam around. It's usually unsuccessful, as he is so obsessed with eating that he will just chow on the grass the whole time, but we get to know each other... and I get paid for chilling outside, so it's cool.
The reptiles at work get fed mice once a week and the best snake to feed is always Elpheba, she thinks the mouse is live so she'll strike at it and squeeze it for a bit before immediately gulping it down. It's cool to watch.
Chase and I went to the farmers market yesterday and he bought some of these Dutch Waffles that he used to eat on his mission with his Dutch companion. They're crispy and filled with caramel, Delicious!
Tonight Ashlee came over for dinner and I made hamburgers. I like everything so much that when I make my hamburger I always think, "Tomatoes? I like tomatoes, I'll add a few extra... Pickles? I like pickles, I'll add a few extra... Avacado? I like avacado, I'll add a few extra..." and before I know it my hamburger is HUGE! Chase and Ashlee laughed a lot when they saw my burger and Chase had to take this pic.
Yesterday I was reading my craft blogs (not to be confused with my cooking blogs...) and I saw a picture of these awesome bracelets made out of old t-shirts, so I pulled some of Chase's out of the DI bag and made these. I love them! I've already made about 10 with the hopes of giving them to my friends. Unfortunately I don't know many people who wouldn't think I was weird in trying to force these bracelets on them... :( Maybe I should sell them for $2 each? I have 6 colors so far: pink, navy, green, white, gray and red. What combos would you like?
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Mission Video

I have been working on making a scrapbook of Chase's mission and I ran across this sweet little gem. Make sure you watch to the end!
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Fall Semester

Summer has ended and Chase and I are into our Fall semester. During the two weeks between semesters I went to California to "play mom" while my mom and Noelle went to Europe for about 10 days. I took care of Aubrey, Colin and Zaya and helped things run normal while my mom was gone. I was excited to spend time with Aubrey and I had many craft projects planned weeks in advance :) Here are some picks from making rainbow cupcakes with Aubrey. She loved to decorate them and I taught her how to put the right amount of sprinkles on them.


Lets just say if Aubrey doesn't want to take a picture with you, it's hard to force her. This was the best smile I could get, and it seems a little sarcastic on her part!

While I was in Lodi, Chase went on a pack horse camping trip with our Bishop. Chase's brother, Alex, flew in to go with him. They had fun and I heard a lot of funny stories when we met up in Bakersfield for the second week of our break. We had fun down there and got to see Nicole, Phil and Tori and celebrate Janelle and Phil's birthdays. Chase's mom also gave us tickets to go see Brian Regan in concert as a belated birthday present to Chase. It was awesome.

After 2 weeks of vacation school has started up again. I'm taking lots of classes for my major, including a sewing swimsuits class, advanced cooking, and floral design... so you know, pretty tough classes. Haha. Chase is in his last semester of undergrad and taking a few last GEs and holding strong! He complains sometimes, but he still studies hard and gets good grades.

I still work at the Bean Museum giving live animal shows. It's a fun job and I LOVE it! The coolest part is that all my co-workers are my age, I've never worked anywhere like that before! Chase is still doing research for a professor on campus which will turn into his graduate research, so that's a win-win!

The bottom line is that we don't have much free time, but we want to say congrats to all our friends who have had their babies! Cameron and Mitzi, we need to see Noah immediately! Ryan and Tamie, I'm excited to be an Aunt that spoils her neice! Beth and Mark, I love visiting Spencer and I wish I could come over every day!
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Chase's Birthday

Yesterday was Chase's birthday (26!) and it ended up working out because it was a reading day in preparation for finals, so neither of us had anything going on. We went to the mall and out to lunch and finally fishing up at Salem Pond for some catfish. Well as it turns out, fishing until 10pm the day before a 7am final is not such a good idea as I still had to study, so I ended up having to pull an all-nighter. Yawn!

Anyways, here's some cool pics from yesterday.
Popsicle tongue, driving to Salem Pond.

Chase is getting his hook ready, it had to be baited with chicken liver, gross!

We had fun hanging out together, but next week he gets to go pack horse camping with our bishop! And the best part is... I don't have to go! But I'll miss him :(
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Camping

A few weeks ago Chase and I decided to go camping on a Friday night. He found a campground and we headed out after our classes.
Here is our meager campsite.
Next time we'll remember to bring a few more things, such as:
  • Chairs
  • Matches or lighter
  • Paper towels or towel
  • Toilet paper
  • Flashlight or lantern
  • Sweatshirt for Chase
  • Shoes besides flip-flops
  • Hatchet for firewood
Oh well... it was still fun!
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Our New Pet

Chase and I also got a patternless leopard gecko about a week ago and we love having her as a new pet. Chase just build her this shelf today so her cage could have a nice place to sit.
She doesn't have sticky pads on her toes, but she has tiny claws that help her grip onto clothing. We are having problems naming her, so any suggestions?? She will be bright yellow when she is full grown.


Here's a video of her eating a mealworm, for some reason my mom thinks it's gross...

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Re-upholstery...

I just turned this old ottoman...

Into THIS!!I got the fabric from IKEA forever ago because I made our living room curtains out of it. It's really sturdy and so I wanted to re-cover our nasty ottoman. We always tried to cover it with a blanket, but as you can see from the picture above it never worked very well. So today I ripped off the old fabric and put this new one on :) It ended up being a really easy no-sew project. So much prettier!
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Manti Temple Trip

Last month we had a ward temple trip to the Manti Temple. We left Provo at noon and got to the temple in time for the 2:30 session.
Here's us outside the temple after the session. We were hoping that it would be good weather for the temple pageant that night, but it wasn't looking too good.
We ate pizza as a ward and waited in a candy shop for awhile before the pageant. It was pouring outside and we almost left for Provo, thinking sitting in the rain that night would not be pleasant.
But the sun came out! It was seriously a miracle. All those dark clouds behind Chase were finally leaving and the sun was coming out right before it set.
The pageant ended up being amazing, I'm so glad we stayed. Its something everyone should see at least once in their lives. And because it rained all day, hardly anyone was there and we got amazing seats and there was no traffic leaving! Talk about a blessing.
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Through the Cave

Here's a pathetic video Noelle took of me trying to make it through the cave...

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California Adventures

Chase and I headed to California about a month ago and had a great time! We went memorial camping in Santa Cruz and we were so glad we could make it again this year. The first morning of the camping trip we went back to this amazing cave we were introduced to the year before.
Dane was our tour guide again and here he is showing off the entrance. Its a glimpse of what was to come.
Here's a glimpse for you to see, it was a really tight fit!
Here's the group that went in the cave. If you look close you can see how dirty we are!

The next stop on our trip was a family reunion on Chase's Dad's side. We headed up to Auburn and hung out for a few days and had a super fun time. Our reunion last summer was so fun, I was really excited for this one and it turned out being great as well.

After the Reunion we headed back to the bay area to spend time with Nicole and Phil and Tori. We were really glad they let us stay at their place.
One day we headed into San Francisco and spent time with our friends Brian and Lauren who had just moved out of our Provo ward. We went to the botanical gardens, the Pier, and Ghirardelli Square.
Here's a good pic of us with some city scape in the background.

After Palo Alto we headed back to Lodi for a few days and attended Colin's 8th grade promotion before finally returning to Utah. How could we be gone for so long you ask? Well Chase took time off from his extremely flexible job (research for a professor) and I didn't need to take time off because I didn't have a job! Neither of us were in school either, so overall it was pretty easy to get away. It makes me wish our lives could be like this forever!
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Provo Adventures

Chase and I have been trying to take advantage of staying the summer in Provo by doing some fun summer activities. This is just a bit about what we've been up to.
Sometimes Chase and I like to walk along the Provo river on a nice day. We also like to walk up Rock Canyon and "explore."We crossed a freezing stream and hiked up a steep hill to see this cave. It ended up being not so impressive, haha.Chase hiked out onto this ridge as the sun was setting.One day Chase and I rented a tandem bike with our friends Cameron and Mitzi and rode all around Provo. It was fun, only the next day our butts were pretty sore!
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Birthday and Anniversary

Yesterday was Chase and my 2 year anniversary and my 22nd Birthday. It was the best day! We had a bunch of people come over for desserts at about 7 and had a little party. I made bread pudding with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, a chocolate souffle with caramel sauce, and strawberry ice cream. Noelle brought over a cake and Beth brought some chocolate chip cookies.
Noelle made this delicious cake and decorated it with fondant for our anniversary.
We didn't have any candles, so Chase held up a lighter while everyone sang and then I blew it out, haha.
Cameron and Mitzi had the "sampler platter" of desserts.
Everyone had a good time, sitting around and talking, it was the best party!
Me and Lauren, chatting and eating... maybe not the best idea, I ended up spitting food on her husband!
I even decorated a little... Overall it was so much fun, Chase made me some earrings and gave me a new ipod nano! In pink of course. And I gave him a fly-fishing rod and reel combo. When Noelle and I went to Cabela's to pick it up, we were in and out in 2 minutes! Now that's my kind of Cabela's trip... That's it until next year I guess!
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Potty-Training

I ended up having a great trip to California. I got to hang out with Aubrey, Yeong-Hye, and my mom. When I got there about noon on Thursday, my mom told me that Aubrey had not gone to the bathroom all day and she was wearing panties. That night we went out to dinner and here are some pics I took in the car.
At the restaurant Aubrey sat so close to me! My mom said it reminded her of me and my grandpa when I was little. Touche!After we ate, Aubrey started complaining that she wanted to go home, which means that she might have needed to go potty. As soon as we got home she started asking for mom to put on her diaper and I suggested she sit on her potty instead. She was sort of resistant at first, so my mom left the room, but she sat on it and I sat next to her and talked to her for awhile. I was tired after awhile so I went downstairs and all of a sudden she came running down saying that she had gone! Well that night she was so excited that she prayed to be able to go poop the next day and she assured me she would do it. "Don't worry Becky, I'll go poop tomorrow..." The next day at about 10am she ran downstairs and exclaimed that she had gone #2. Sure enough she had and we opened up her kitchen set and assembled it as her reward for going poop on the potty. She loved playing with it!I think Aubrey was ready to go, but she needed an outsider to make it seem exciting. The trip ended up being really great and a nice break from the semester before finals.
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Recent Happenings

Next week Chase and I are going to California for a small vacation. Chase actually isn't going all the way... he's staying in Nevada because he was invited to attend the annual young men's desert camping trip by my dad. Apparently this year they're going all out and getting ATVs for everyone. Chase is really excited and I told him to bring me back some sweet rocks. I'm driving with him and then continuing on to California to hang out with my mom for a few days. My plan is to hopefully potty train Aubrey while I am there. Chase and I agree my mom is a big softie and Aubrey needs some tough love. Not anything too extreme, just refusing to give her a diaper when she has to go. We'll see how it goes though :/

Recently I recived this dog for free from my Religion teacher and because it was impossible for us to keep... :( ... I sent it on to California as a surprise Valentine's present for my mom. Her name is Nutmeg and she was so adorable! Apparently she and Aubrey will play outside for hours and she is much more fun for Aubrey to have around then lazy Taz. Although I'm sure my mom still loves Taz more, Nutmeg seems like a good addition to the family.

This is Chase on the couch eating Triscuits and watching TV. When I saw it I had to take a picture because it was so hilarious. Notice the vacant stare and pile of crumbs on his chest. He is so cute :)