Life is full of unexpected and frustrating things sometimes

So I haven't blogged in a while, so what? It's my blog and I can blog when I want to. Life has been busy and full of unexpected and frustrating things. I don't want to bore anyone to tell with all the details of this month, so I will just start with last Saturday. I will wait to share the bad news, and I will start off on a better note. Saturday morning we went to a family expo for our stake that lasted till the late afternoon. They had awesome speakers. Adam and I both learned a lot. They had a catered luncheon afterwords that was really good. It kinda reminded me of the graduation dinner put on by BYU, only it was better. They had these giant eclairs for dessert that were very scrumptious.  Did we ever mention that we are really enjoying this new ward? It's so nice to be surrounded with people our age who are in similar circumstances. I actually want to get to know people and look forward to visiting teaching. ha. Anyways, we went to that AWFUL, FRUSTRATING BYU game that night. The traffic gets really bad an hour before the game (bumper to bumper traffic). They have cops at every stop light. We had to drop some stuff off at my aunts house before we headed over to the game, so we were in a big hurry leaving only an hour and 15 minutes before the game. We parked at a friends house in Provo and had them drive us over, so it worked out b/c we made it on time.  Did you guys watch that terrible game? Adam and I were so depressed after. We actually left early because we were so frusterated. I just felt bad because it was Adam's first experience actually being at a game. Hopefully this Saturday they will play better, so we can actually sit through the whole game.  Anyways, we stopped by Brian and Bethany's house afterwards, so I could pick up some more birth control (I have never had to pay for birth control which is pretty sweet). Thanks Bethany!!! We ended up staying at there house till sometime after 10pm. Its hard not to make things quick with my family. ha. Adam and I went home and watched movies till the late hours of the night. Needless to say we slept in.  Its a good thing our church doesn't start till 2:30pm. However, we don't like getting out so late. The whole day is gone. Dinner isn't till 7 and then starting hw after is no fun.

Some photos from the upsetting game:

 We were happy before the game started. We enjoyed a yummy pretzel.

Then, we enjoyed some cookie dough ice cream. I will miss the creamery's ice cream when we move.

okay, now we get to the VERY unexpected and tragic news. Monday we decided to stop home after our morning classes so I could bake a couple different batches of cookies for my brother. Its his birthday tomorrow and I wanted to add the cookies to the package I put together for him, that I was sending out that afternoon. I had already made the chocolate chip cookies and had just finished mixing the peanut butter cookies. My grandma was sitting down in her favorite blue chair, relaxing because she was tired from being out in the garden. She got up to come in the kitchen. I was scooping cookies on a baking sheet at this point. She walked right behind me. Then one minute later there was a huge THUMP!!!!!!! I freaked and turned around to see my grandma lying on her back, unable to move. I screamed for Adam. It was a very traumatic five minutes after that. Adam ran up stairs and assessed the situation. Grandma couldn't move at all. She couldn't even lift her head. She was conscious though. Adam and I lifted her up and put her on the couch. She couldn't even put weight on her feet. She acted like she was OKAY. Ya Grandma, you can't move and you think you are okay. She had Adam give her a blessing and we told her we should take her to the hospital. She kept saying no I am fine. My grandma is a tough chickaroo. She is kinda stubborn too. My mom is the only one who can talk some sense into her, so I called her and had her talk to grandma. She acted like she wasn't in any pain and that people should stop worrying, the blessing would kick in. We had our aunt talk to her and then finally Brian was called. He came over and took one look at her and called an ambulance (his wife works at a hospital). The paramedics showed up and said that her right leg was shorter than her left. Uh ooh, not a good sign. We followed the ambulance over to the hospital. We waited there the rest of the day. They wouldn't let her eat or drink anything. She stayed in an ER room till after 10pm. I couldn't believe it took them that long to get her a room. Sometime that night, her Xrays came back letting us know that she broke her hip. :( My poor grandma! She broke her other hip 10 years ago. She is now 84. This was such horrible news! Man on man. We have such a great family. Almost everyone who lives in Utah came down that night to visit her. Yesterday was crazy stressful catching up on lost work. We had a meeting, tons of assignments w/ some due at midnight, classes till 7, and a soccer game at 9, so we didn't get to bed till 2am.   We felt bad that we couldn't be with her after her surgery yesterday. Her surgery went well though, so that's a positive note. She is now in recovery mode. We visited with her today, for several hours, and she slept most of the time. We ate at the cafeteria they have there while some other family was with her. They have some good food there at a reasonable price. We are so grateful to everyone who heard about it on facebook and prayed for her. I just feel bad because she has to relearn how to walk and everything at 84 years of age. We are hoping for the best.

Here are the cookies I made for my brother and the start of his b-day package. It was moved to a large priority box. We had to buy some bubble wrap to wrap the cookies really well, and some packing tape because we ran out. It cost us 20 dollars and i don't remember how many cents. ha. I just thought it was ironic b/c my brother turns 20 tomorrow. You are probably thinking what a bunch of random things to send. All the things in the package have significance, well, they will remind him of us all.

23

These are my pretty new sunglasses that my hubby got me for my birthday. He surprised me and got them while I was in class. We both only have one morning class on Friday's which is nice. Adam's is a 9:00 and mine is at 10:00. Because the parking situation is Ridiculous at BYU in the mornings, I drop Adam off and spend the next 35 min trying to find a parking spot. Hence, Riiiidicuulooous! Lately I have been parking next to the stadium and hiking. Its a Long way but at least there are no hills! Sept 4th turned out to be the last day you could return books for a full refund. We both had some classes we dropped so we had to jump in the book return line after my class. After we returned our books, we walked out to the car (well literally hiked a few miles) and these beautiful Smith Cameo sunglasses were sitting in the passenger seat with a VERY thoughtful and romantic card. :)

I forgot to mention that we bought starving student cards on our way out of the Wilk. This is a first for both of us. My cousin Joseph was selling them this year, and that in itself, was the only reason we bought two starving student cards. We used them twice yesterday. Jason's Deli was the first place that they came in handy.  My mom is excited to get some free fresh water pearls. I don't know if I could wear them. ha. They are priced at $100 so I guess they would make a nice gift. Do people wear pearls at our age? We checked craigslist to see if any guys who had bought starving student cards were trying to sell their pearls, and sure enough there were two necklaces listed. I thought it was funny.

Adam, Brooke, and I waiting for our yummy sandwiches. Adam and I both really like their California club. He always gets it with chips and a dill pickle. I like to get the fruit b/c it comes with this yummy dip. We all enjoyed their soft serve afterwards.

We had to stop by the Stonehenge in Orem and take a picture b/c it's just so silly. They should have made the stones a little bit bigger.

Some gifts I opened at grandma's when we got home from lunch. Lots of cards, some money from the in-laws, my burrito(explained in the next photo), and Bath and Body Works goodness. I got some presents before my birthday too ( a blue dress, skirt, shoes :), necklace, and some Paul Mitchell shampoo and conditioner, yup I was SPOILED)

This is my burrito. My dad is so funny. He bought this in CA and brought it up to me. I can't wait to break it open and get the candy.

This is the second place that our starving student cards came in handy. We went to Magleby's for my birthday din din.

Our yummy dinners. Adam got the filet mignon. I had the blackened salmon.

Our cute waitress who has worked at both locations for 7 years. She knew all my cousins who use to work there.

I was brought out this yummy treat for my b-day.

Then we came home and celebrated with Marie Calendars Lemon meringue pie. I am not a cake person. We actually haven't eaten it yet b/c we were stuffed after eating out. My family just sang to me and had me blow out the candles. We will probably eat some tonight after the BYU game. 

I had a great birthday this year. I was happy to spend it with my family. I still can't believe I am 23...AND the celebration is not over. Adam and I are going to celebrate my birthday sometime next week, after my family is gone, with our new tradition we started last year for my birthday. Getting a spa package that includes massages. I can't wait (:

Thoughts about our thrifty Friday and this Fridays bday wish (Last Friday, This Friday)

If you are not into being thrifty skip down to my birthday wish and tell me which pair you think is cute.

Last Friday: We had a lovely, yet cheap, date night last friday. We were out birthday shopping for me friday night and passed by Krispy Kreme while their hot and ready sign was lit up, so we had to stop to get some free donuts and left with a box and milk. Then we watched a movie we own that we haven't seen in a long time. Our friday date night only cost us $4.50 and we loved it. We both hadn't had a Krispy Kreme donut in like 8 months or so.

Who else loves Redbox?

It has given us many free date nights the last three semesters with all the promo codes. They are too popular now and so they are cutting back on the promo codes which makes me SAD :( They use to have them every Monday and started doing them Wednesdays. I haven't seen one in a long time. So now we actuallly have to pay the $1.07. Oh well, its still a cheap date. ha.

This Friday: I turn 23 and all I asked for is a pair of Smith Sunglasses. These are my two favorite pairs:

1. Smith Shoreline apple tortoise w/ brown gradient. Both of them look really good on. Its such a tough choice.

2. Smith Cameo-I like the logo on the side of this one. I'd get the Red Pearl Rose.

Hiking the Y for our 3rd time

We decided to hike the Y Thursday night so we could watch the sunset. Brooke had never been so she was excited.

We left a little too late (around 7:35) so we didn't start hiking till about 7:50. I took this when we were about half way from the Y.

On our way up

When we got up there all the lights from the city started turning on. I LOVE lights. So to me it was ok that we missed the sunset.
I just like this picture because it make ME look tall. ha.
The cement painted Y behind us.
Brooke and Brandon climbing down the Y

My cute husband! He actually let me take a picture of him by himself.

Sunflowers

HAWAIIAN PANCAKES :)

I was missing Hawaii and craving their pancakes last night so I decided to try to figure out a good coconut syrup recipe...and boy did I! Needless to say, we had a fabulous breakfast this morning :)

Banana Pancakes with crushed macadamia nuts, whipped cream, and coconut syrup
Lehi Roller Mills Pancake Mix-Lehi Pride is the best!! I don't like any other pancake mixes you can buy in the store. These are soo good though. I got so many compliments on these this morning. My aunt went to culinary school and she was impressed. That made me happy.
We unfortunately can't get POG down here so we settled on Orange, Peach, Mango-Dole.

This is the mastered coconut syrup recipe I made last night:

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups light corn syrup

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Wisk together the coconut milk and cornstarch in a saucepan until the cornstarch is dissolved. Pour in the corn syrup, sugar, and coconut; bring to boil, stirring continually. As soon as the mixture comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Inspired by Lacey

I got this recipe off the the Cooks.com website because I wanted to try out Lacey's cookies. I wanted to use chocolate pudding mix instead and cut Lacey's recipe in half. This one is practically the same as hers. It turned out great. Adam and I are about to enjoy our second batch straight from the oven.

JELLO PUDDING CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 1/4 c. flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 c. butter, softened 1/4 c. granulated sugar 3/4 c. light brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 pkg. (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding 2 eggs 1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips 1 c. chopped nuts, optional Combine butter, the sugars, vanilla and the pudding mix in large bowl, beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs. Gradually add flour and soda; then stir chips and nuts. Batter will be stiff. Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen

...........the past week and a half.........

We recently just got back from camping

We went camping down at strawberry lake with a party of 19. We had so much fun. Lori, Bryan, Bethany, and Mckay are excellent cooks. The food was so good. Adam and I don't eat that well at home. ha. The boys caught some fish and crawdads (sp?) We cooked them for a snack. The trout was pretty good and the crawdads we called poor mans lobster. We slept in this small little tent our first night. It was a wedding gift. We quickly realized we need to get ourselves a bigger tent. My hubby is too tall for this little thing. We slept in the trailer the second night so we could actually get some sleep.
We went shooting our second day there. I shot a gun for the first time in my entire life! It was so awesome because I hit the clay pigeon on my first shot. Adam was proud :) I am not going to lie I was a little scared at first.
Brooke got a shot of Adam showing me how to hold the gun.

Our last night camping was quite entertaining. We had some Jerry Springer action going on with our neighbors. We got the cops called on them. They were all intoxicated, swearing up a storm, and attacking each other. One of the crazies walked over to our camp.

The whole incident in the words of my sister:

"Ok, so we're all sitting around the fire, just talking, making s'mores, enjoying the peaceful night... when suddenly, we hear this lady start screaming. "I've heard enough from you!" "She attacked me in bed, in BED!" and this lady is just cussing up a storm. So this goes on for about 10 minutes or so... "You broke my arm, you b!" and "I think my tooth is loose" so my sister and my cousin go talk to the camp host and they told us that if it started up again, to go get them. So the screaming has stopped, but an hour later, it starts up again. So we go back to get the camp host, and they drive up in their car and tell us they're going to drive around and listen to them. So we're all sitting by our fire, and we see someone walking up. Turns out, it's the girl that the lady was screaming at. She comes up to us totally drunk (with a thermos full of vodka) and asks, "Did the camp hosts come by and complain about the noise? Because the screaming was coming from my camp" and she proceeds to tell us how she started beating up her sister-in-law because she called her a b. And she shows us her hair that her sister-in-law had ripped out, and at this point it's just ridiculous. I was uncontrollably laughing my head off haha. Anyway, then the camp hosts come up to our camp and talk to the girl there, and she tells them everything! And it turns out that the whole fight started over hot dogs. Wow... hahaha. So long story short they called the sheriff who came by in the morning. Omg.... so funny :P"

Last weekend we went up to Syracuse to visit my dad's side of the family.

We had a huge luncheon with everyone. It was nice to sit an relax and get to know everyone better. We don't visit my dad's side as often as my mom's.
We drove around Antelope Island since its right by my grandpa's house.

We saw a lot of buffalo

and pretty scenery

We had to take a picture by the metallic buffalo at the restaurant where they make buffalo burgers. I think they closed it down this year. It wasn't open when we went.

Last week before we went camping, my sister, mom, and I went to education week. The classes were very spiritual and uplifting. I have to say we do not like the crazy midlife crisis women of Utah. You know the ones who wear the expensive Mek and True Religion Jeans with shirts from Buckle. The ones who have starbucks in hand and let all their friends cut in line just before the doors open, when there is a huge line of people who all have been waiting in line for an hour because not everyone can get in to these popular classes. Ya mormons here are crazy. People cut in front of us twice. We tried to get them in trouble but they lied to get out of it. Stupid Mormons. ha. We got into the classes but some people behind us did not because of them. I thought they were very fake and selfish.

Today Adam quit his job and we went and got our textbooks for our classes. This time they only cost $550. I really don't want to start classes next monday. What a bust. At least my birthday is coming up. Something to look forward to.

Graduation + Anniversary

We graduated last Thursday. It was nice to have both our families come up for it. These are the only pictures my sister posted on facebook, so they are the only pictures I have of graduation. I need to get some pictures from Sheila. Graduation didn't feel that special since we both have one more semester left. It made it even more anti climatic when people asked us what we were doing after graduation and we had to tell them we still have one more semester to get through. It was a pretty cool milestone in our life though, just the fact that we were able to do it together. It was fun having everyone all here. We were able to celebrate for days and spend a lot of time together. We are so grateful to our parents for helping us value education, and all the help we have received throughout our lives to get to this point.

Also, sunday was our big one year anniversary!! :) :) :)

We have had family up here since graduation and they are not leaving till the 6th of September. This made it difficult to get each other cards and stuff so we decided to go to the store together the night before to pick out cards for each other and read them aloud in the store. We got a kick out of it. We picked up some sparkling apple cider on our way out. We slept in on our anniversary and then had a big dinner celebration with all our family (extended family too). It was a good time. Hawaii was our real gift to ourselves, so we didn't feel cheated.

These are some reasons I love my husband so much...

1. Honors his priesthood because he loves me and the Lord so very much (this is the greatest blessing any women could ever ask for)

2. Makes me feel beautiful everyday :)

2. He is so kind, loving, gentle, and very affectionate. PDA doesn't bother him. He always gives me LOTS of kisses and hugs (I love the way he holds me).

3. Is so talented and yet so humble

4. Very Confident-he can do anything, seriously.

5. Smart-reviews shortly before a test and always pulls an A

6. There is not a selfish bone in his body

8. Willing to help out anyway he can with anyone.

9. You can always count on him to be there.

10. Very good listener (this is very helpful for me) and he is a great problem solver

11. Makes sure I know each day that he loves me.

12. He is my best friend and we have so much fun together. We like to be silly a lot. I wouldn't change anything about our relationship. We are very happy and I look forward to many years to come :) I LOVE YOU ADAM TROY TOWNER :)