Lately

Ok so it has been forever since I have updated this!  I initially started a blog because Kori and I were under the impression that this would be our way of communication... Boy were we wrong.  She sends me her blogs and I update them so that is my excuse for never updating.  I feel with everything that has been going on in our lives lately I should share.  As most of you many know Angel and I just bought our first home!!! It has been a very exciting and fast process for us.  We never really had any intentions of buying a home mainly because we didn't think that we would be able to afford one and a part of me still felt like a kid and I was "too little" still and probably didn't have enough credit built up in order to buy one.  Again I was wrong. We really wanted to buy a new car instead but then once we got talking about it a new house sounded like a lot more fun.  We were living in one of my dad's homes here in St. George and he offered to sell that to us and we were seriously considering it, but then my mom told me that a friend of her was looking in this area and there were lots of homes in the 150k price range that were brand new and bigger than what we were in and advised us to look for something we would be able to grow into a little more comfortably.  At this point we had no idea of a price range we could qualify for so we just started looking at anything below 200.  Right off we found two houses that we fell in love with one being the one we call home now.  Both of them were short sales and had the status of "offer under review".  I moved on but kept coming back to these two houses because they were so amazing to me.  I called a few realtors and it seemed like nobody would really do anything for me until we were pre-approved but I had no idea whether to go through the bank or a mortgage company for it and i didn't want my credit pulled a million times either. So I called the bank and got a rough very low estimate as to what we could get qualified for.  After that I was kind of discouraged so me and Angel decided to save some more money and wait to do anything until February when we would have his car paid off.  Well I still kept looking and I noticed that this house I love was just reduced in price 5K and I thought to myself there is no way thats sold if they just took the price down so i immediately called the realtor on it and he set us up an appointment to look at it the next morning.  The second we walked into this house Angel and I looked at each other and we knew that this was it and we wanted it!! Well we put an offer in that night (the next day really because we looked at in on a Sunday).  But in order to put in the offer we had to go and get pre-approved.  Angel got the name of a guy from First Colony Mortgage from a few people that he worked with so we called him up and I am so glad we did.  I was so nervous that he was going to tell me the same thing the bank did.  But he didn't (turns out we made more than I thought and I gave the bank our income after taxes not before HUGE difference).  They pulled our credit and it was awesome!! They told us that they would basically give us a loan for whatever we felt comfortable paying each month.  Huge relief.  We talked about several different loan options and decided to go the conventional route where we put 5% down had the option of paying off our mortgage insurance right away.  That was so nice because it saved us roughly 140 a month on our house payment!!! Anyways Our house was a short sale so we were told to not expect an answer form the bank on our offer for about 30 days.... talk about torture!! So in the mean time one of me bosses at Costco set me up with his son-in -law to go look at some more houses.  So Labor day we spent all day looking at homes and i think we saw about 8 of them.  Let me just say that once I got home I wanted to cry because none of these houses were anything like the one we had an offer on.  They were beat up, dirty, in sketchy neighborhoods, and would need lots of renovating.  And call me a brat but I really didn't want to give up anything that I have already been living with like nice furnishings, tile, new carpet, walls without holes, updated cabinets, curb appeal ect..  I just felt like if I'm going to be spending my money on this I am damn well going to get what I want and like it.  I know all of these things can be fixed too but at a price and we didn't have a huge budget and a lot of these homes were on the high end of our price range already.  And its funny working with realtors because they try to sell you on anything "its a detached home, it has this much space, this many bedrooms, big yard, laundry room.  Yeah its detached because nobody wanted to build by something so ugly, the bedrooms are like closets, what yard... I see dirt.  Don't get me wrong the realtor i worked with were great but they made second guess the house I already offered on because the soil is bad over here and its a short sale.  For those of you that don't know (because I had no idea) a short sale is when the owner give the house back to the bank to try to sell before they foreclose on it.  So the bank sells it for less than what the owner owes on it so the bank essentially comes out "short".  But anyways I was told that offers go in around listing price and then the bank comes back with some ridiculous number, which may be true in some cases and not true in others.  Our case was the not true.  We heard from the bank the wednesday after Labor Day and our offer was ACCEPTED!!! We were shocked, I thought for sure the bank would have countered us and our realtor told us he was surprised they didn't.  I have never been more excited and relieved in my life!! We were given until the 30th of September to close.  That caught us off guard because first off we weren't expecting to hear back until the 22nd which was 30 days and we needed a little more time to get all of our funds in line for the conventional loan so we asked for and extension and we got it!! New closing Oct 12, 2011.  That month felt like a million years!! .... then came closing week and we needed to get a bank statement so we could get our paperwork off to the underwriter.  Well we needed a statement that contained everything from Sept 8th to Oct 8th and since the 8th of Oct fell on a weekend Monday was the day to go in... but wait the banks were closed for Columbus Day... Seriously?? So that pushed us a day behind which was scary because we needed to close by wed and have funds processed by Friday or our deal would be dead because of the short sale!!! I didn't know that so imagine my stress.. we were able to get another extension... but that didn't make my stress go away because I was so ready to move in that weekend and i didn't want to wait any longer!! Anyway tues I got the statement (3 different times) and they sent it off and wed we found out it wasn't good enough so we had to get another and apparently that one was the winning one (not sure why.. prob because Angel was the one to get it haha).  So from we waited for everyone to rush the paperwork so we could try to make the original deadline.  By some miracle it worked and we closed thursday and got our keys Friday!! I'm sure everyone was as happy it was over as I was because that meant I wasn't calling them every minute haha.  The whole process seemed just too good to be true and too perfect so our little closing bump in the road made sense haha.  I still can't believe that this is all real!! We honestly started looking and put in an offer after looking for two weeks and we were moved in after a month and a half!! We got such an amazing home for a KILLER deal and we couldn't be any happier!!  

Our home!! There is a one level home attached to the side with an older couple living there.  They are cute the woman brought us cookies already!!  The house is 2100 sq ft with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, two car garage, and two level (thats what I was most excited about!!).

 our shower!! Its surprisingly big like 10 people big... party?

  Can't wait to decorate that railing for Christmas!!

 I'm open for decorating ideas!!

 this would make a great baby's room one day!

nook area

This is our home and we are absolutely in love with it.  I am open for decorating tips if anyone has any good ones too!! Especially in my kitchen and dining areas!! Its kind of set up different we have an area for more formal dining and a breakfast nook.  So now i have two tables in this great big open area and i really don't mind it, its just a little different and I don't know if there is a better way to utilize the space so its not "wasted".

kind of hard to see both table areas but this is it... formal is on the right and nook is on the left.



We are pretty lucky!! I never would have dreamt to be able to get a place like this as our first home.  We have enjoyed every minute of it and loved spending our 1 YEAR anniversary here!! We can't believe its been a year already!! We originally wanted to spend our anniversary in either Venice or Australia but we bought a house and we are glad we did!! We can travel anytime.  Our first year of marriage has been incredible!! We have both grown so much in ways I'm sure we weren't expecting.  It has been so easy with Angel. He is the most easy going man I have ever met (besides my dad).  We have so much in common and we get along so well its scary.  I keep hearing that the first year is the hardest because you learn so much about you spouse that you didn't know before.  Let me say yes I have learned a lot about Angel and myself and how we work as a unit and it just makes me love him even more.  If someone would have told me a year ago that i would love him more than i did then I would have said "are you sure that's possible?" It is possible, he is so amazing to me and i couldn't have asked for anything better! I love him with all my heart and now I know that that love only grows deeper and deeper.  I keep waiting for that big fight or that moment to bring me off of cloud nine but it hasn't happened and to be honest I don't think its going to! But thats enough of that sappy love stuff haha. This is what has been going on with us Hope you all enjoy!! 

2011 so far...

  This year... I feel like so much has happened already in the short 3 months we've had.  To start, Angel and I started taking classes again after taking the previous fall semester off to work and GET MARRIED!! He is going part time and I am full time finishing my upper division psychology classes.  Let me just say that I absolutely love these classes.  I have never wanted to read my text books and would usually just skim the chapters.  Now I read them through and through! I am learning so much and it is so interesting and exciting to me.  I have even picked up "The Female Brain" and "The Male Brain" so I can learn more about our brains and why we do things we do.  I definitely think I have found the right field of study I should be in.  I will graduate in Fall of 2011.  After I hope to apply and get accepted into a graduate program for clinical psychology; I'm leaning towards family and marriage counseling.  Angel is taking an advanced sports medicine class and some computer graphics and web design classes, one of which I am taking with him.  He really enjoys both fields and just needs to decide which one he likes more.
   As most of you have read I'm sure we went to Hawaii with my family at the end of January.  This was an awesome trip to be able to just get away and spend some needed time with family.  We both have amazing families and we like to spend as much time with both of them as we can.  With our school and work schedules it's been tough.  Angel works for Skywest Airlines where he was promoted to the lead of his department recently.  I am currently working at Costco and loving all the people there.  I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with.  We are very lucky to have these job because with them we receive amazing benefits.  One of the best is flying for free! We plan to travel as much as we can this year! We want to take a weekend trip somewhere once finals are over but, we haven't decided where yet.  We are also planning a trip to Australia before fall semester.  We are going to use it for both our birthday presents.  I cannot wait! I have been once and I've always wanted to go back!
   This year my younger sister Kori left for her mission to NYC! She is loving it as I'm sure most of you know! Angels younger sister Alex was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis just recently and that has been very hard for her and the family.  While we were in Hawaii Angel called his mom and she told him that Alex woke up one morning with pain in her left leg and within a few hours she lost all feeling in it.  She cannot move it or feel it at all.  They went and had a series of tests done and none of us ever expected it to be anything like MS.  When we found out we went straight over to Angels house.  That was one emotional night for all of us.  Alex is so brave and so strong I know she can fight this.  We had some guys from our ward come over and give her a blessing and it was such an amazing experience.  Angels family is LDS but no longer active but the strength of the spirit during that time was so strong I couldn't believe it myself. One thing that stood out to me was the dogs.  They have 4 pugs which are very hyperactive and love the sound of their own bark I'm convinced.  They were put in separate bedrooms in the house and barked and whined the whole time we were talking before the blessing but when the blessing was being given it was completely silent! The dogs didn't make a sound! That in itself was a miracle haha.  The whole experience was just awesome for me and Angel and I'm sure his family too!  Since then my mom sent me a bunch of juice plus for Alex to take to hopefully help her feel a little better.  I sent her my first two seasons on One Tree Hill and told her that watching them always make me feel better and i hope it does the same for her haha.
   As for what is happening with us currently, my dad is staring a new business in flipping houses.  We are all pretty excited about that and ready to get started.  Me and Angel just stared P90X and are trying really hard to eat healthier and get in better shape for the summer.  Neither one of us want to let marriage get the best of our bodies haha.  Angel's mom asks us every time we see her when we are going to give her her first grand baby.  She is too cute and we tell her as soon as we are ready haha.  I cannot wait for that day when we tell her we have one on the way.  She will be so excited.  Me and Angel are pretty baby hungry but, I definitely want to finish school first and Kori told me I had to wait for her to be home so who knows! But that is our update for the year so far, I'm sure a lot more will happen so stay tuned!

 this is from a date we went on together to just relax and enjoy each other. it was needed!

      us with our baby for now!

Goodbye for Now!

So today me and Angel broke the rules! We flew up to SLC to see Kori off at the airport (and it was worth it).  They recently asked families not to see their children off at the airport, but I brought the idea up to Kori and she was all for it so I didn't hesitate.  Her flight was at 8:30 this morning so we met her at the airport at 6:30.  It was crazy, when we pulled up with my friend Mark there were two charter buses full of missionaries! It was crazy.  I just stood in between the two of them until I saw her.  As soon as I saw her we both starting running for each other and then hugged for about 3 minutes! You would think we had went through some kind of trauma and one of us was on our death bed, but no it had just been two months of not seeing or hearing each other.  We have done really well writing, I dear elder her everyday and she writes emails when she gets the chance and several letters 80% of which bring me to tears.  It was an amazing feeling to just be able to see her again one last time before she leaves and be able to see how happy she looks.  I know she is doing the right thing and she is going where she is needed.  It doesn't stop me form being selfish and wishing she would just come home though.  I even asked her if she wanted to just fly back with us.  She told me that she met an Elder from the Dominican and he was serving in St. George and she asked him to trade haha! If only! I was able to meet her Elders that she has grown to be very close with and it made me feel a lot better knowing that they are all in the same mission together... I know they will take care of her!  While we were there she was able to call my dad, mom, brother, and sister to say goodbye and had some good conversations! I felt like there was so much i wanted to tell her and ask her but once I was with her I couldn't think of anything and I just enjoyed the few hours we had before she took off.  I cannot wait to hear about her first experiences in the mission field.  She will do great things!

We have roughly 16 more months until she comes home.. I am told it will fly by and it has yet to happen! This past two months feels like it has been 2 years and 2 weeks all at the same time.  I still haven't gotten used to her being gone.  I still go to call her on my way home from work at night, or to go and do something small with me, then I remember "oh she's not here"..... I feel real dumb after then get a little sad about it.  The hardest is when I really need someone to talk to about things that I know inly she would understand... I have had a few breakdowns and it makes it worse not having her to cry to.... My poor husband has to listen to my sob stories and try to pretend to understand what it feels like (because there are just some things women/sisters are more in tune with than men).  He is an amazing man and has helped me so much through all of this I am so grateful to have him with me now and forever.  I need to just remember that Kori isn't gone forever and it will go by faster than I think.  I will keep everyone updated on her progress and stories from the mission! She is an excellent pen pal and would love to hear form everyone email or mail! Her info in on her facebook or just get ahold of me and I will gladly get it to you! Thanks for all of the Love and Support!!

A WEEK IN HAWAII!

We just got home from Kona Hawaii! We went with my family, my dad's grocery supplier hosts' big trip every other year then they follow them up with a trip to Hawaii the following January- February.  This year was great except we were missing Kori! It wasn't the same without her, but nothing is! Once we got to Kona we really didn't have any activities planned, so we spent the first day just kinda driving around the island.  We found Costco and a Target hahaha it was incredibly eventful.  After shopping we went back to the hotel and laid by the beach for a bit then went to a Lu'ua.  It was neat, they had some interesting food and had different hula performances.  My dad then decided that we needed to plan out something for everyday of the trip because he refused to just go to a target. haha It was pretty funny, he was quite passionate about it.

The next day we took a HELICOPTER ride around the island to see the three waterfalls and the volcano.  It was awesome to be able to see the magma exploding out, but by the third or fourth sharp turn around in the air I was not feeling so good... I had to hold my headphones away from my ears because they were up too loud and look straight out the front window! I kept breathing deeply in and out so I don't have to use the barf bag!  Somehow I made it through.  While we were flying over the magma flowing into  the ocean the pilot spotted two people down there taking pictures of the magma! SERIOUSLY!!  He said that if those people were to get caught then they would be fined 10 grand and taken to jail for 18 months. That ground is so unsteady, we saw several hotspots in close proximity to them... these people were just not thinking!!  Also there was a single house left in the middle of all of the lava rock that was still OCCUPIED!! AND they rented rooms to brave souls who wanted to see if they were lucky enough to survive a night, that is if the volcano didn't blow or magma didn't burst from the lava rock surrounding the house.  The only way in and out is by helicopter.  CRAZY people!! By the time we landed I had had enough! Turns out everyone except Kim got woozy in our helicopter ride so that made me feel a little better about myself, until my dad saw how pale I was.  He thought it was pretty funny... punk!

The next day we went up into the forest and went ZIPLINING! This was so much fun.  We had the best tour guides ever they were so funny!!  We had to beg my mother to come because she is afraid of heights but my sister in law Katie is persistent and got her to agree!  They started us out on small zips and we worked up to zip 7 and 8 which were their highest and longest zips they had! It was intense and so much fun!  The only bad part was that we were eaten alive by mosqiutos, but it was well worth the itch.

The next day was DEEP SEA FISHING!! I was so excited for this.  We had to get up at the crack of dawn to go out.  We spent 6 hours fishing and didn't get a fish :( I was really sad because I was first up to reel it in! We did get some kind of dolphin on the line for a minute but they never stay on the line. So that was some excitement.  The day was well worth it though because we saw dozens and dozens of dolphins.  It was amazing they were everywhere, jumping, swimming around the boat, and singing to us.  I am definitely going to do that again one day and catch something!

Now we are to our last big adventure of PARASAILING! This was like a breath of fresh air literally! I was expecting it to be bumpy and a little scary but it wasn't.  It was smooth and relaxing, like swinging in a swing up high!  The boat ride the the bumpy scary part haha.  We even got to see a blue whale and her calf so that was neat! (pics coming soon, didn't have them on my camera)

The last day of our trip we just spent winding down.  We went to the sports bars in the hotel and watched the Packers win the Superbowl! And we ate (big surprise).. We spent a good portion of this trip eating and eating and eating again! Me and Angel definitely have our work cut out for us at the gym!! overall this trip was awesome, and we are so grateful that we had the opportunity to go! It was Angel's first time in Hawaii and it was an unforgettable experience for sure!!

And she's off

Today Kori has left to the MTC to train for three months then off to New York to bring the gospel to the people there! I am so excited, nervous, and proud of her and for her.  I am going to miss her like crazy.  Me and Kori have always been really close since we were just little.  I think we were really supposed to be twins but we ended up two years apart instead.  Not a day goes by where I didn't either see or talk to Kori at least on the phone.  I'm really going to have a hard time with her being gone!! All I can say is that I am grateful to have Angel to help keep me occupied and to get me through this.  Our family is so proud of her and all of her accomplishments and choices she has made in her life.  She is truly a beautiful person inside and out.  We all know that she will do amazing things in the mission field, and will have the ability and opportunity to change people's lives forever whether they choose to accept the gospel of not!

Her farewell was on Sunday and it was beautiful!  She had so many friends and family there to support her and see her off.  We both did good at not crying all day until it was time for me and Angel to leave to catch our flight home!  I lost it.  Lets just say it was an emotional ride to the airport and has been an emotional week.

Before Christmas we had the opportunity to take Kori to NYC with us to show her around a little bit and give her a little taste of what New York is like.  It was awesome.  It was a very long day because we did everything.  We went to most all of the major sites and did a lot of walking.  It was such a neat experience being able to show her these things and spend time with her before her mission.

 Going to the Statue of Liberty

 Central Park

      Rockefeller center

Manhattan Temple

When Kori first put in her papers she was hoping to go somewhere back East on her mission.  I was praying for her to stay West coast area, and if she were to go East coast I really didn't want her to go the NYC.  I love New York but I would never live there too busy and a little scary.  But low and behold New York was where she was called!  I was excited about the spanish speaking but wasn't excited about the New York.  But the more and more I thought about it I knew it was the right place for her.  For some reason it just suits her so perfectly.  She is going to fit in so well and she'll be a natural missionary.  

2010

I can't believe its over already!! 2010 will be the year I will always remember.  It was the year that I fell in love and married the man of my dreams and we couldn't be happier together.  I was never the type of girl who wanted to get married, I was always afraid to commit to anyone, until Angel came along.  Don't get me wrong I still had my share of commitment issues with him too, but he always stuck around and there was just something about him that after about 9 months of dating I finally admitted that I was in love.

                                               On our trip to cali with my marine bio class.

                                                                       Superbowl

                                                 Easter one year from when we first met.


It wasn't long after we fell for each other that we were talking marriage.  I was very excited and nervous all at the same time.  All the talk about planning the wedding and starting a family made me just light up!  In July Angel proposed to me in Central Park in New York City!  When I got home from work on Friday he told me to pack a bag we were going somewhere for the weekend.  I didn't think much of it because he works for Skywest and we love to travel places as often as we can.  The thought of him proposing crossed my mind but he had me under the impression that he didn't have the ring yet.  So we got to New York early Sat morning and went and had breakfast, went and got a caricature it times square (doesn't look a thing like us), and then walked down to Central Park.  We had one of the bicycle guys give us a tour and we stopped to go down and check out the big fountain.  I was busy looking at a turtle in the water and turned around to tell Angel to look and he then walked toward me and got on his knee and asked me to marry him!  I immediately lit up and said yes.

Let the planning begin!  We originally wanted to get married in November so we didn't interfere with my brother and dad's "hunting season".  But me and my mom decided to hire a wedding planner so it would be less stress on all of us during the school year.  Best decision ever.  She convinced us to get married in October because it was the best month as far as weather goes for an outside wedding.  The wedding was a breeze. I feel like I didn't do a single thing.  My planner Debbie Peyser presented me with choices and I picked form those, done.  I would say the only stressful thing was the announcements, because I made them myself and I kept making small changes so they would be perfect.  We had Gideon Photography do our pictures and I am so happy we decided on him.  They turned out beautiful!  Our Wedding was everything I dreamed of.  Everything came together perfect which was good because it had rained earlier in the day.  I keep asking Angel if we can do it again and he just laughs at me.  It was hands down the BEST day of my LIFE!

We left for our honeymoon a week later to Antigua! It was amazing.  We stayed at the Sandals there which is an all inclusive resort.  It was such a breath of fresh air not having to worry about money at all! Everything thing was included, food, drinks, activities, ahh it was bliss!  We spent a lot of time eating and laying by the pool.  We met several couples and had an awesome time with them.  We are for sure planning another trip to a different Sandals location.  We are aiming for our anniversary! 

Before we knew it we were celebrating our first holidays married! It worked out really nicely because my family came to St. George so we were able to spend time with both families.  We are so lucky to have the families we do.  They are so amazing to us! We were very spoiled and had an amazing time!

For New Years we decided to have a party with our close friends.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and we had way to much food left over.  Next time we'll know better.  We are way excited about 2011 and can't wait to see what this year has in store for us.  We have some big things planned hopefully everything will pan out how we want it to!