Time Flys When Your Having Fun

It's been over 5 months since I have blogged!  Oops...  We've been busy, busy with work and school and time is going by faster than ever.  I feel like everyday I say something along the lines of "I can't believe it's already been a week since ...." or "Today is Friday? Where did Wednesday and Thursday go?!"  So let me just add to that and say, I can't believe we have been in Mesa for over 4 months!  

We moved to Mesa in August and we are loving it here.  When we first moved here it was so, so hot!  But now it's a perfect temperature most days and gets pretty chilly actually on others.  

We call our apartment our "hotel room" because it is so teeny but it is pretty nice so we can't complain too much.  We got our first Christmas tree up last week and it takes up about half of our living room but it makes our home feel really festive so I love it! 

We moved down here to the valley with neither of us having jobs so we basically just took a leap of faith that something would work out and it did!  I got a job the day after we moved down here.. talk about a huge blessing!  I got hired at DownEast Basics and it's such a great job.  For anyone who hasn't heard of it before, look it up, it's pretty decently priced and super cute!  You'll love it!  

Devin just finished his first semester at Scottsdale Community College last week.  He also just got hired for the holidays at Aeropostale and is working part time there.  He did awesome in school this semester and we will both be starting up classes at the beginning of January again. Well, we are keeping our fingers crossed that I can start in January.  I submitted my residency papers a couple weeks ago so we are waiting to hear back about that.  That whole process was a total nightmare but hopefully it will pay off and I can start up at ASU and FINALLY get finished with school!  I have about 2 years left and I just want to get finished and get my career started. 

We went to Snowflake for Thanksgiving and had such a great time with our family there.  It is always so fun to spend time with Dev's huge family!  We are worn out by the end of our stay because it is always so busy with all the kids and everyone around, but so fun and we love it. 

My Mom and Dad are coming to Mesa for Christmas and I am so excited for them to get here!  They get in on Christmas Eve and will stay until the Friday after Christmas.  I miss my family so much and I hate being so far away from them so I am really looking forward to have some time to spend with them during the Holidays!

I love blogging because as I sit here thinking of all that has happened in our lives the past few months and what is to come in the next few weeks, I am reminded of all of our many blessings.  It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day activities and forget how awesome life really is!

Hot means HOT here in AZ! This was a couple days after we moved here. It was 113 the day we moved in. All I can say is thank goodness we are on the first floor!

We went to a 3d movie and out for ice cream for my 22nd birthday!  

When we were in Snowflake for Thanksgiving, we went up to a ski resort that had their lifts open for rides to look at the fall colors. It was beautiful!  I love this photo and no, Devin is not strangling her. ha

She said her neck hurt so he was massaging it for her. Sweet guy :)

Braelynn (my youngest sister in law) and I at Thanksgiving dinner.

Our first Thanksgiving as hubby and wifey

We played Pictionary as a family after dinner and it was so fun.  And this was Devin's drawing of a frog... clearly! ;)

Getting caught up!

Finally caught up from all the wedding craziness!!  Only took two months. :)  We have been so busy since we got married.  Devin is still working at the well drilling company until the end of July.  I am working as a cashier at the grocery store that my father in law owns.  Definitely not a long term job that I would ever want but it is money and something to do while Devin is at work for 8+ hours a day and I am very grateful to have a job when a lot of people don't.  I haven't been as good at taking pictures as I should lately but I've taken a couple of random things that we've been up too!  I think pictures and bullet points are the best way to get caught up :)

• I attempted homemade pizza one day (with the help of my cutie sister-in-law:) and was really proud of myself because they turned out really good!  I make a homemade wheat crust which is really good and a lot healthier than anything you can buy.  I topped it with healthy stuff :) We really like turkey bacon (I was skeptical at first but it's actually really good as long as it's crispy!) so we use turkey bacon as our meat instead of nasty pepperoni or sausage, mushrooms, green and red peppers, sweet onion, green onion, olives, spinach and cheese and pizza sauce of course!  Here's the recipe if you're interested:
• 2 cups water
• 1 packet yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups (give or take a little bit) whole-wheat flour

1.  Combine water, yeast and sugar in a bowl and let yeast dissolve.  2.  Once yeast is dissolved, add salt and flour and mix with fork/hand until it is the consistency of dough.  3.  Round into a ball and cover and let rise for about 15 minutes.  4.  Knead about 10-15 times and then dough should be ready to roll out into crust.  5.  Top with sauce and toppings of your choice.  6.  Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your pizza.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

• Devin is playing city-league softball and it has been really fun going to his games!  He's such a stud ;)

My handsome hubby in the dug out!

• I love, love, love having all of our nieces and nephews around!  They are all so stinking cute and they help keep my "baby hungeryness" under control ;) ha

• Goofy picture, but I went to work with Dev one day so I had to get a picture!  He works for a well drilling company with one of his friends so they go out and fix peoples wells.  When he first started the job, I didn't even know people used wells anymore because when I thought of a well, I pictured a hole in the ground with a bucket on a string... but they are a little more high tech than that now a days! haha

• Devin and I have both taken on projects lately!  Devin got an old .22 rifle from his dad and decided to refinish it.  I should have taken a picture of it finished but it turned out great!  Unfortunately, it is such an old gun that it is hard to find parts for it so I doesn't work at the moment... but it looks pretty!

We got an old table from Devin's brother (not the cutest thing but it was free and we like free! ha) and it had some paint splatters and marks on it so we figured that if we sanded it and re stained it, it probably wouldn't look too bad! So I took on that project while Dev worked on his gun.

• As most people would assume, its super dry here in AZ!  They don't get very much rain at all but the last few weeks it has rained a couple times.  My brother and two sister in-laws decided to go jump on the trampoline in the rain because it was still hot outside so I joined them for a few minutes. :) 

• Our ONLY picture from the 4th of July!  I don't know what I was thinking :(  but at least we got this one!  This was after we finished running our 10k race that morning.  Devin got first place in his age group and third place overall for the men! Woohoo!

• My in-laws went to California last week so we took advantage of the empty house and camped out in their living room and watched movies on their big tv.  I love the saying "Marriage means getting to have a slumber party every night with your best friend!" because its so true!  Married life is the best :)

• We are both in the process of registering and getting ready for school.  It has been an ABSOLUTE nightmare trying to get transferred but hopefully it'll be figured out soon!  We are both ready to be back in school (suprisingly!)
• I have been eating really healthy and working out hard since we got married!  I set a goal on our honeymoon to loose 20 pounds by my birthday (beginning of October) and so far I've lost.... 11 pounds!!!  I have been sick twice since we got married (throw-up-all-night-long-sick) so that has helped in losing at little bit I think but I feel great and have really gotten into good eating and working out habits!  Thanks to my hubby for being my hard core personal trainer, I love you! :)
• We get our apartment in Mesa tomorrow!  Yay!  We are so excited to finally get a place that we can call our own (right now we are "renting" a house from some family friends and it is all furnished and decorated with their things so it doesn't at all feel like "our" place.  We are definitely grateful to be able to stay there but are ready for our own place.)  We won't move in until the beginning of August but we sign our lease tomorrow because that's the only unit they had available around this time.  Pictures to come soon :)

 

Honeymoon

Better late than never! I never put any of our honeymoon pictures up so here are a couple of my favorites!  We took a road trip to Oregon and took 4 days to drive there so we stopped each night and did fun things along the way :)

Just leaving home!

We stayed at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas our first night of the trip!

We had a coupon in our room when we got there for 2 for 1 tickets to Cirque de Soleil so Devin called to see how much it would be.  One ticket was $100 for the absolute last row!!  No thanks!  ha

The view from our room

We went to this volcano fire show thing in front of one of the hotels on the strip and it was actually pretty cool!  We were standing at the closest point that you can stand at to watch and it was SO hot!  It almost hurt each time that the volcano erupted or the little torches in the water went off! 

Waiting for the tram to take us back to our hotel after walking the strip.  We were both so hot and sweaty and just feeling yucky because it was really hot outside and the strip is just kind of a yucky place ha. It was fun to experience it but its definitely not a destination that I would choose to go to for fun again!  We loved our hotel for that reason though because the Trump doesn't have a casino so it isn't smoky and loud and totally crazy like all the other hotels in Vegas.  It was nice! 

Day 2!  No idea where we were, somewhere between Vegas and Reno :)

Our second night we stayed at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno.  We told them we were honeymooning when we checked in and a little while later they brought us some sparkling cider and a card saying congratulations!  I even got Devin to drink some with me:) (For those that know him, he doesn't drink soda or sugary drinks. Ever!! ha)

The next morning, we went to the Reno Temple before getting back on the road.  It's such a pretty little temple and it was in a really great area of Reno that Devin and I both really liked!  We drove around a little bit and both agreed that we wouldn't mind living in that area if for some reason we ever ended up in Nevada!

Last picture in the hotel before hitting the road for day 3!  We really liked Reno.  It was a nicer, slower paced, cleaner version of Vegas haha. 

Haha, I love this picture!

One of the two times that I drove on the entire trip. ha 44 hours of driving and I think I probably drove for about 4 of them ;)  What a great husband I have to drive all that way!

Finally made it to Oregon!  This is in Grants Pass, one of Devin's favorite areas of his mission.  This is Sunshine Foods, a total hippy, organic restaurant/health food store, that Devin went to all the time.  They make really good food and smoothies!  And he calls ME the hippy! ;)    (We stayed in Medford, OR the third night and then drove to Florence the next day.)

We took Devin's parents to the tide pools up north of Florence one of the days that we were there.  The weather was SO great the whole time that we were in Oregon, it was wonderful!! 

All the good tide pools were on the other side of this little creek.  I really wanted to get over there so Devin tried to jump across and made it but then slipped and soaked his socks and shoes so since he was already wet he got back in and made me a bridge with this huge branch so I could get across.  What a guy :)

We walked along the beach every morning while we were there and found shells and rocks to bring back to Arizona with us!

This was the weirdest little thing!  Devin spotted this little crab while we were walking along.  The poor little thing was upside down and couldn't flip itself over so we flipped it over and all of a sudden it was gone in the sand!  Dev dug in with a shell and pulled him out and he burrowed himself in again each time that we pulled him out.  I had never seen a sand crab like that before.  Fun little discovery!

So beautiful!

Day 1 on the way home!  We stopped in Ashland, OR because Dev had gone there a couple times on his mission and always told me about the Lithia Water fountains there.  You may be able to read the photo but the Lithia water is mineral water that is supposed to be really good for you.  They have these water fountains right in the middle of downtown that are constantly running.  It is the worst tasting water that I've ever tasted though!!  It's really sulfur-y tasting.  But had to try it once!

Ok, LOOK at this picture!  It is not zoomed in or cropped or anything.  We were literally 3 inches away from this tiger!  There was a window on one side of the tigers habitat area with a ledge on the tigers side where he could stand or lay.  We were looking through the window at him and I had just got done telling Devin how I wanted the tiger to come up on the ledge because he would be super close to us.  Not more than two minutes later the tiger comes walking over and jumps up on the ledge right in front of us!  I probably sound like such a weirdo but I was so excited!  The glare made it so I couldn't take a very good picture but you can still tell how close he was.  SO cool! ha. For our whole trip, Devin and I really wanted to go to a zoo and we are such goof's because we were both really excited to go!  We tried to go to one on the way to Oregon but it didn't work out so we decided to stay in Sacramento on our way home and go to the Sacramento Zoo while we were there! 

How many people do you know that would choose to go to a zoo on their honeymoon?  Not many. haha!  We're two of a kind :)

Married Life

Wow! Where do I even begin? :) It blows my mind that I have been Mrs. Peterson for nearly two months already!  It has been so much fun, super exciting, a little crazy but overall, really great and I love my new life and hubby more than words can describe!  We have been SO busy so I haven't had a lot of time to update the blog, especially since we don't have the internet at the house we are renting for the summer so we have to go up to my in-laws to get it. Super annoying to not have it at our house but we love the house and it is such a great deal that we can live without the internet for a couple months. But today I finally had some time. Yay!

Our wedding:  The day was perfect and things couldn't have gone any better.  You always hear stories about the day of weddings being super stressful, that the bride and groom didn't have time to eat or really enjoy anything, so I REALLY tried to make sure that our day wasn't like that!  I wanted to have fun and enjoy every second of the day because it only happens once and I didn't want to be stressed!  I was so happy that everything went so smoothly and I can truthfully say that I wasn't stressed out about anything, it was wonderful!  Now being nervous is a different story, though! ha.  I woke up that morning and I was feeling great, not nervous, just excited.  My awesome sister-in-law did my hair so I went over to my in-laws to get my hair done and do my make up.  Then Devin and I drove to the temple because we had to be there earlier for paperwork and things.  After that, we had the opportunity to talk to the man that was sealing/marrying us and that was really special.  A few minutes later, a lady came in to tell us that our family and friends were being seated in the sealing room and I immediately got really, really nervous because I knew that that meant it was our turn to head into the room where we were going to be sealed for time and all eternity.  I had so many emotions going through me because while I was really nervous, it wasn't because I was doubting anything, it was because I was finally marrying my best friend and the man that I love more than anything, in the Lord's house for all eternity!  That is quite the feeling to know that I get to be with my husband and family throughout eternity.  What an amazing blessing!  

Our sealing was beautiful and it was so special to be there with all of the people that mean the world to me!  

After our sealing, we took pictures outside the temple for a little while and then Devin's mom and family had planned a luncheon for all of our friends and family to get together and enjoy lunch on our special day, it was so great!

And now for the long awaited wedding photos :)  They are not really in any specific order, enjoy!     

A lot of kissy pictures, but hey, we just got married ;)

The beautiful Snowflake Temple

Coming out of the temple as Mr. & Mrs. Peterson :)

This is one of my FAVORITE pictures, I am so happy that the photographer caught it!

Love this guy :)

Devin's Granddad and Grandma Gillespie on the left and Grandpa Peterson on the right

One of my best friends, Heather and her husband Spenser.  They came all the way to AZ from OR just for our wedding.  They are so great!

I have no idea what we were laughing at but I think its HILARIOUS!  These are two of Devin's best friends and old mission companions, Tyler on the left and Colten on the right.  Colten and Devin were companions when I got baptized :)

This is one of my favorites too!  Devin looks so handsome ;)

I'm not very big on heels so I was bare foot most of the day.  And for those who know me well, most other days too :)

Our receptions:  We had a reception in AZ the evening of our wedding day and then we had another one in OR the next Saturday.  Both being from small towns, we had a lot of people in both towns that we wanted to be able to be at our receptions so we figured that we would have two so that both towns and all the people that we have grown up with could be involved.  Both of the receptions turned out exactly how I have imagined and wanted them.  I was so happy!  We had so many amazing people that helped us at both receptions and are so grateful to have so many wonderful people in our lives that helped us make our day the best ever!  

All of our nieces and nephews, except for the newest little guy, and Devin's littlest sister Braelynn in the middle.  How adorable are they?? :)

Dev and the nephews! A little bit impossible to get a picture of them all looking at once but its still super cute :)

Me and the super cute nieces and my youngest sister-in-law!

I LOVE this one!  Its so cute and funny at the same time.  These are all Devin's sisters.  8 of them :)

The Peterson Family

The Flood Family.  Just a little bit of a size difference, huh? ha

My sis and I

Our centerpieces turned out so pretty, just what I wanted!  The pictures don't do the decorations justice, they looked great in person :)

We did a popcorn bar, cookies and fruit.  I wanted to do something different than the typical finger sandwiches and things like that.  I found the popcorn bar idea and loved it so we went with it and it turned out so great, and really yummy!  We did a plain buttered popcorn and had a couple different seasonings to make it whatever flavor you wanted, a caramel corn and a white chocolate popcorn.  I had never heard of the white chocolate until my mother-in-law brought it up and it was soo yummy!  We also had peanuts, chocolate chips and peanut butter M&M's to mix in and make a trail mix!  I loved how it turned out! 

Cutting our cake!

We had talked about if we were going to smash the cake in each others faces at our reception and Dev said he wasn't going to do but I wasn't too sure that I trusted him so I was a little bit hesitant!

But he did it nice and cleanly:)  I was tempted to smash it in his face but I knew if I got him first, he would get me back much worse so I kept it clean too ;)

 

 My super cute niece, Triste, caught my bouquet!  It was so great that she caught it because she had been carrying it around with her the whole night at the reception while I was in the receiving line.  She told me she would "protect" it from the little kids and kept coming over to me every few minutes to check to see if I needed it yet.  She was so excited when she caught it and told me all about how she was going to go home and put it in water!  She is so cute!

Well the hubby will be getting home from work soon so I am off to get dinner started.  Someday I will eventually get our blog all updated.  Our honeymoon is next on the list, we had so much fun so I will put up the pictures soon. :)