I've been really slacking on the blog lately and I feel like I should really do a good update of what we've been doing for the past month. It's really been crazy, but luckily, we made it! :) We're almost a week into our winter break and we've been making the most of it. :) Here is a picture update of life lately. :)

We've tried several times to make Chapati. Bri says it's not right,
but I always think it tastes good. :) 

Bri's volleyball team won in intramurals. :)
He's pretty proud of his new shirt...

We dressed up as Mary Poppins and Burt for our ward's
Halloween party. :) 

I even made my own hat. :) 

Bri was a perfect Burt. :) 

We also got to babysit Kai a few times. :)
This is him and Bri bonding...:)

A couple of exciting things happened for Bri and I this semester.
 I finally finished and installed my show! :) It was such
a big accomplishment for me and I felt really good about it. :)
I'll post more pictures later.
And Bri accepted an internship with Walmart for the summer.
It's going to be such a great opportunity for him
and I've been told that we'll love Arkansas. :) 

We also celebrated our first anniversary on the 15th. Oh man, this year went by crazy fast...:)

Bri was very sweet and gave me this yummy fruit bouquet and surprised me
with a night in Heber/Midway,
just like our honeymoon. :) 

We went to Tarahumarah, which is a delicious Mexican
restaurant that we ate at on our honeymoon. 

Bri reserved us a penthouse suite,
which was soo nice and beautiful. :)
He also reserved us a couple's massage for
the next morning. It was so fun and relaxing. :)

I love him. :) 

This was our beautiful view. :)

I had to decorate a little bit for Christmas. It was much more
fun than studying for finals. :)
That table cloth is one we got from Grandma Clark
it felt perfect for Christmas. :)

This is the Nativity set that we got in Kenya last Christmas.
I was so excited to finally display it. 

This was our makeshift Christmas corner. :) 

These are the stockings that Grandma Curtis made for us. Bri's had his since he was born and I got one when we got married. :) It's such a fun and sweet tradition. :) I love them. :) 

I loved wrapping all of our gifts. :) 

We made some treats for some of our friends. I love this Christmas quote by President Monson. 

I decided to be crafty and make my own tags. I should have been studying for finals, but this was definitely more fun. :) 

We went to see the lights at temple square. A tradition that I hope we keep as long as we're in Utah. It's such a beautiful place. :) 

We had Haylee take some anniversary/Christmas pictures for us. It's been such a good and fast year. We've definitely been very blessed and I'm excited for the year to come. :) 

This little summer...(Part IX)

This post is about our trip to Nauvoo. It was such a beautiful place and we learned a lot about the church's history there. We went with Scott and Sandy and it was so fun to take a trip with them. I loved going to different church sites and listening to the history and testimony of the saints. 

We were able to see the pageant, which I loved!! It was so well done and you definitely feel the spirit of Nauvoo. I definitely recommend the everyone take a trip to see it at least once. :) We were also able to attend a special performance from the pageant cast called "Our Journey Goes On." It was about the life and the journey. It was soo touching and beautiful, if it's ever available to see, definitely do it! You won't regret it. :) 

I also absolutely loved the temple. It might be one of my new favorite temples. It's so beautiful and in the setting of Nauvoo's history, spirit and scenery; it was one of the best parts of the trip. :)

The Nauvoo Temple

This is a Joseph and Hyrum statue
that is right across the street from the temple.  

I like this face. :) 

 We went to the grave sites for some of
the Smith family near Joseph and Emma's house. That's the Mississippi behind us. It's really a beautiful place. 

The graves of Joseph, Emma and Hyrum Smith. 

This is Joseph's Red Brick Store.
Some amazing things happened here...

Bri was showing off some skills he learned on the mission...

We were able to take a trip to the temple. It was perfect. :)

We also made a trip to Carthage Jail.
 This is the upper bedroom that Joseph and Hyrum
 spent their last night. 

This is the original door and bullet hole. 

This is the window the Joseph fell from.
It was such an interesting spirit as we visited these places.
Joseph and the Saints went through so much
so that we may have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And it's difficult not to feel of their spirit
while you're there.

My testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith was strengthened
by my visit to Nauvoo and Carthage. He was an amazing man
and Prophet of God. 

What a beautiful temple!

We had to get some pictures in before we left. :) 

It was so fun to go with Scott and Sandy. :)
Thanks for coming with us! :) 

I guess you could say that
we were pretty tired on the drive home...:)

This little summer...(Part VIII)

This post is about a couple of trips we took to the city. We got really lucky and were able to stay in a very very very nice apartment. Twice! Bri and I got a little taste of city living and it's really fun. But oh man, it's exhausting. There are just so many things to do and so many people!

The beautiful view from the apartment.
It looks kind of tropical, right? 

See? Nice, huh? :)

For our first trip, we planned to go to a jazz bar, which was really cool. We obviously didn't fit in; people were quite curious how long we had been married, we only ordered soda, etc. :) The music was so so good and classic though. :) Bri also took me to an art festival at a park the next morning. I loved it and I'm sure he did too. :)

Bri took me to Cheesecake Factory.
We love that place. :) Mostly the bread.
...And the cheesecake. :) 

Andy's Jazz Bar. Bri and I just ordered
soda and the bartender gave it to us
for free. :)
#inthebarbutnotofthebar

Our second trip was during the 4th of July. We were able to walk down to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier. And we did our own, city-style barbecue with brats and potato salad. :)
We loved the city and I miss it already. :) Hopefully we'll get to visit again sometime soon!

We took a walk down Navy Pier during
the 4th of July. Look how festive we are. :)

Our 4th of July BBQ. City version. :)

Perfect place for fireworks. 

He's cute. :)

We went to the "beach" the next morning.
It's so weird to have a beach in the middle of a city...
but it was nice and we even went into the water.
Lake Michigan is not as cold as I thought it would be...:) 

Oh man, we've been pretty busy lately. I guess you could say that we like our semesters jam packed. Luckily it's not all school. We get to do some fun stuff too. Last month we went jet skiing with my family. It was really fun! The weather was perfectly warm, despite being the middle of September and it was our last hurrah to summer. I'd say it was a pretty good ending. :) October started out with Bri's birthday and conference, which turned out to be pretty eventful. It's not every birthday/conference weekend that you take a trip to the ER. Fortunately, it was nothing serious. And Bri is a trooper, even when he's in the hospital on his birthday. :) 

Our date night trip to WinCo. We love that place. :) 

Bri's victory lap on the knee board. :)
His 2nd attempt was much more successful.
Probably because my dad driving for him instead of me. 

This is pretty classic. :)

Bri's birthday set up with scotcharoos. :)

I got Bri a Chicago flag/Chicago sports t-shirt.
He looks pretty excited about it.

Bri's batmanmintchocolatechipicecream cake. 

Bri and I had a date night for his birthday
and for some reason he chose to go to a
haunted house. I think we might be a little
too old though. We didn't get as scared as we
thought we would. 

We did get to go on a coffin ride. It wasn't that scary either,
but we got some pictures out of it. :)

The birthday trip to the ER. Turned out to
be nothing since he felt better the day after,
but the story is pretty good. :)

Official proof. :)

Some other things we've been up to lately
include intramural volleyball.
(Well, for Bri. I just watch. :))
He's pretty good. I might be a little
biased though. :)

We also get to hang out with Kai and
take him with us on trips to Costco. :)
It's great to get compliments on what a
cute baby he is. I just don't have the heart
to tell them he's not ours...:)

Oh, and I've been trying to get this art show stuff all
figured out. :) It's coming along. :)